RWBY: The Dark Hunter
by de4deye117
Summary: With the Vytal festival approaching, a sudden and devastating attack on a police precinct causes alarm in the Kingdom of Vale. Professor Ozpin assigns Team RWBY to investigate the vicious attack and report their discovery. However unbeknownst to the huntresses themselves, they became the attacker's next target.
1. Prolouge

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Prologue**

 **"** **Deimos"**

[May 26th, 2558]

[Kingdom of Vale, Commercial District]

[12:48 AM]

Heading down the dark roads of night through the city of Vale, a boxcar supply truck was making its runs through the commercial district with its precious cargo of elemental dust, an energy propellant long used by humanity in its struggle to survive centuries of terror from the Grimm, a hoard of demonic monsters that roams the world of Remnant outside the walls of humanity. Phil, an elderly man in his mid-sixties, was driving the truck down the road with the only source of light being the truck's headlights and the street side lamp posts that hung over the sidewalks. At this time of hour everything seems quiet and calm in the district, thus allowing him to get some peace and quiet he been wanting for some time, that was until he slowed down at an intersection and begun to hear a commotion outside down the adjacent street.

He rolls down the door window beside him in time to hear cars pulling over and men barking out loud "I'm not telling you again! Put your hands in the air!"

On the conjoining street, about fifty meters away, first responding vehicles and men from the Vale Police Department began to form up behind their line of cars as they draw their measly handguns aiming them towards a single dark figure that stood in the middle of the road, purposely blocking the way of another box truck that was carrying dust as well. The figure stood at a staggering seven and a half feet tall with black ironclad armor comprised of hardened titanium-A plating over a similarly dark bodysuit comprised of titanium nano-composite fibers, the legs were rigid and bulky as well as the forearms, none of which held a weapon at the present moment, the same rigid philosophy was applied to the shoulder pads, rectangular armor plates with the ends slanted inwards towards the figure's body, and the chest was unusually rounded and mostly placed itself along the figure's upper chest with a small bright blue 'eye' protruding out of the center and a white stripe going down the center. But what really set the officers unease was the figure's helmet, baring a striking resemblance to a human skull with no eye sockets with a large white 'X' painted on the 'face' that seemed to show no signs of life or even forgiveness.

"This is your last warning! Put your hands in the air or we will open fire!" an officer roars out through a megaphone.

But the figure made no movement, no response. It simply stood there with no weapons in hands looking straight back at the officers, it then slightly turned its head towards the sergeant wielding the megaphone and finally spoke with a deep and raspy male voice that seemed to be masked with a voice modifier to make the voice sound more synthetic like a machine " **As you wish, officer . . .** " and begun to raise his armor clad arms into the air.

The police sergeant looked over to four men and nudged them with his head as an order for them to head out and apprehend the giant, they were reluctant at first but eventually they decided to head out. The slowly etched towards the figure with their weapons still drawn until they came within two meters of the giant, and that's when the bloodshed began.

Without warning, the figure quickly reached with his right hand towards something latched to his left side under his shoulder pulling out an intimidating combat knife modified with a ten inch titanium ceramic-carbide blade, holding it in the reversal gripped position where the blade faces downwards, and immediately lunges forward towards the officers plunging it deep into the closest man's chest. He grabs the wounded man and throws him aside onto the ground just in time to duck below a shot fired from the next officer who started to step back but there was no hope when the giant leaped high into the air above them, assisted with a pair of back-mounted thrusters built into the armor, and comes down hard and fast crushing the second man under his feet. Almost instantly he dashes to the right, where the third officer stood firing his weapon hoping to get a hit, and slams into the officer's chest with his shoulder throwing the man across the street onto the sidewalk. He then turned his sights towards the last officer who finally landed the first shot striking across the figure's helmet but instead of colliding with metal a yellowish orange shield of energy flared up as it took the impact, the man, now struck with utter fear and dread, began to fall back but the giant soon quickly followed with a fast paced walk and caught the man by the neck followed up with a forceful blow to the head virtually killing him and threw the body down hard against the ground.

After witnessing the giant brutally kill three of his men and knock out a fourth with a shoulder barge, the police sergeant tossed the megaphone aside, drew his sidearm, and yelled "FIRE FIRE!"

The police force began to let loose a volley of gunfire from the relative safety of their car barricade sending dust projectiles down range as they pelted against the giant's shields, eventually the figure bolts from left to right as he slowly began closing the distance between him and the officers. With his natural speed, and the aid of his built-in EVA thrusters, the armored figure effortlessly ducked and weaved through the incoming fire only taking a mere few glancing blows to the shields until he came within seven meters of the barricade and simply vanished into thin air.

"Cease fire cease fire!" the sergeant barks as he begins to look around trying to figure out where the seven foot tall giant could've gone.

The squad of twelve to fifteen men all stood there looking every which way trying to find even a sign of movement but nothing turned up, that was until they all heard two distinct _pings_ as if something was armed, then suddenly the giant appeared right in front of them already in mid-air leaping over the cars with both of his hands each holding what looked like a dark green ball with a grey top mechanism featuring a blinking red light, grenades.

The figure tossed each grenade to the far left and right sides of the barricade before he came crashing down on top of two unfortunate officers and immediately drawn two handguns of his own from his two thighs gunning down the closest set officers around him. The two grenades detonated releasing powerful explosions on each end of the police blockade, destroying vehicles, wiping out more than half officers and wreaking havoc among those that are still alive, while the giant expertly shot down each officer with his dual weaponry, and occasionally dealing forceful punches and kicks to officers that were close enough dealing bone breaking results that were met with brief outcries of pain. The figure quickly holstered his two sidearms and reached back for a much larger high caliber anti-materiel sniper rifle and fired the first shot at the sergeant, with the high velocity anti-materiel round viciously tearing through the man's chest, and swung the weapon around like a baseball bat striking another officer in the head. Fire began to spread from the wrecked vehicles and there was only one man left alive, with a bullet wound to his stomach and lying against the front of the supply truck, where he looked up at the giant in sheer terror as he latches the sniper rifle back onto his back.

"W-w-what are y-you!?" the officer cried out in fright as he began to feel the heat from the raging flames.

The figure looked down at the frightened officer and replies " **It's Deimos** " he casually grabs his pistol located on his right thigh and takes aim before firing the last round straight into the man's cranium.

With the last of the police force dead, it was time to collect his prize, he walks around the truck towards the rear and reaches down into a tactical waist bag, located on his lower back, pulling out a thermite-carbon cord with a small explosive charge attached to it. He sticks the charge to the rear loading door and strings out the cord to a safe distance where he takes out his personal lighter, a silver flip lighter with gold engravings resembling vines with the initials _D.J._ , flips the top off and lights it before he ignites the cord. The cord burned hot and bright, due to the thermite contained inside, racing towards the small charge on the door and when it finally reached its destination, a small controlled explosion, followed up with a very loud ' _BANG_ ', echoed through the streets accidentally setting off several car alarms in the distance as the loading door flew off allowing the SPARTAN access to his prize.

He climbs aboard the truck to find most of the black locked boxes intact which was fortunate for him, he steps over to the nearest one to him and takes his knife out once more to start picking the locks. It took several moments of careful turning and pushing until the lock clicked the top opened showing the prize inside, he looks in to find a colorful assortment of refined crystals, dull orange, dark blue, silver, blood red, green, a lighter blue, and glowing orange.

He picks up a red crystal holding it in front of his helmet for closer examination when the communications relay inside crackled to life with an a calm voice full of authority asks "SPARTAN Adam, have you acquired the objective?"

The giant hissed back with a threatening tone " **I told you not to call me that, it's Deimos . . .** "

The voice simply sighed and rephrased the question "SPARTAN Deimos, have you acquired the objective?"

Deimos grinned behind his LOCUS-variant helmet " **Yes Major, I have the objective.** "

"Good, proceed to rendezvous coordinates outside the city, prep the package for extraction."

" **Consider it done . . .** "

And like that the radio fell silent prompting Deimos to put the crystal back into its respectful slot and close the case. He picks it up and begins to leave but something stops him and made him turn around, after giving some thought he sits the case down and break into another where he then takes a glowing orange crystal thinking ' _maybe one for myself_ ' and carefully tucks it away inside his waist bag.

He picks the case up once more and jumps out of the truck back onto the street where he hears more police sirens in the distant, as much as he wanted to stay and have more fun he needed to adhere to the major's orders and leave. He makes his way through the ravaged burning police barricade and started making his way down the street some ways until he stops in the middle of an intersection and looks to his right, seeing another truck with an elderly man sitting at the driver seat, the two men looked at one another blankly for several moments before Deimos chuckled lightly and disappeared once again.

Phil couldn't take his eyes off from that very spot on the road until he sighs and asks himself "Why do these things always happen to me?"

 **Please note that this is a mere tryout for me in the RWBY universe, so it may be some time before another chapter is released if you like. As always leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.**

 **This is also in tribute to Monty Oum who died on this day last year and I would like to greatly thank Roosterteeth Productions for continuing RWBY in Monty's name and memory. RIP.**


	2. Investigations

**A/N: The story takes place during the time between Volume 2 and 3 of the RWBY series and the Post-war era of Halo. Just so there's no confusion about the time period of the story.**

 **RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **ACT ONE: A looming danger**

 **Chapter: 1**

 **"** **Investigations"**

[May 28th, 2558]

[Kingdom of Vale, Beacon Academy]

[Two days later, 1:47 PM]

"Does anybody know why Ozpin called us to see him?" Ruby Rose, asks as she and the rest of her team, comprising of four young girls including herself, made their way through the open campus grounds of Beacon Academy.

A fifteen year old girl with short red tinted hair wearing a black blouse and a skirt with red trimmings along with a red hood that seems to wave gently in the calm breeze, Ruby was the team leader of Team RWBY, though naïve and innocent in most casual scenarios she is capable of being a dangerous adversary when the situations demands it.

"Well it had better be important, I had plans to go out tonight for a little fun" her older sister, Yang Xiao Long, replies with her hands behind her long blonde hair as she walks along Ruby.

Cheerful, energetic, and bright, Yang is a spirited young girl who always enjoys the thrill and excitement of a good fight. She has a very straight forward and confident outlook on things and tends to make sarcastic remarks and jokes in the heat of combat, especially with those that don't pose much of a threat to her. She sports a tan vest with gold piping over a yellow, low-cut crop top with a black crest that resembles a burning heart, black gloves with the tips of her fingers exposed underneath her golden mechanized shot gauntlets, an orange scarf that wrapped around her neck, black shorts, which resembled a pleated skirt in the back, and brown knee-high platform boots.

"Not that it matters now, if Ozpin wants to see us then it has to be important" Blake Belladonna remarks as she walks calmly next to Yang.

Blake is typically seen wearing black low-heeled boots and stockings that start off purple near her shoes but then gradually turns black as it goes up to her hips, a black buttoned vest with coattails and a white sleeveless undershirt. Unlike her human teammates, her being a faunus, she wears a black bow over her head to conceal her two cat ears protruding out of her long black hair. Mellow and occasionally reclusive, Blake would normally exclude herself from conversations and stick to the shadows when in large crowds. This however does not hide her righteous beliefs for equality for humans and faunus alike, often despising those that who judge and discriminate on racial prejudice. She is also known to be extremely fond of books to which she is normally seen reading them in her spare time.

"I agree with Yang on this, I just hope it's something important otherwise it's a waste of our time" Weiss Schnee states with a hint of disdain and frustration.

An heiress to the Schnee Dust Company based in the kingdom of Atlas, Weiss comes from a wealthy family of power and fortune, wearing pale blue bolero jacket over a similarly colored thigh-length dress with a piece of black lace making up the neckline of the dress, white heeled wedge boots that go to mid-calf. Her long white hair, pulled back to an off-center ponytail, is topped off with a small tiara taking the shape of icicles. Born and raised into the SDC, Schnee pretty much had everything decided for her which made her rebellious in some manners but however does not show any hostilities to her family or company. It could be assumed that she has been thoroughly lonely throughout most of her childhood, the constant attacks committed on the company by a band of extremists calling themselves the 'White Fang' has made her childhood all the more difficult. Though she normally remains strict and disciplined, she would rarely open up to those she deems as friends when the time is needed.

The girls continued onwards making their way towards the main building of the Beacon Campus when Ruby asks "Hey has anyone heard about the midnight attack two nights ago?"

"Who hasn't?" Schnee rhetorically replies "An entire police squad is dead and for what? A shipment of dust that was probably on its way to a street-side store."

"The whole shipment?" Yang asks.

"I'm not sure, the police hasn't released any details on the attack other than how many dead. They won't even say anything on who or what did this."

Blake openly expressed her thoughts "Think it could be the White Fang? They've been awfully quiet ever since the attempt they made with the train a week ago."

Ruby had the final word in the conversation "Maybe, maybe Ozpin would know more about it if we ask him."

"If he'll even tell us . . ." Schnee remarks.

[2: 03 PM, Headmaster's Chambers]

Headmaster Ozpin, a middle-aged man with tousled gray hair and thin brown eyes, sat behind his desk drinking coffee out of his mug as he looks out beyond the window, seeing Atlas airships hover over the city of Vale, and ponder about the future of Beacon Academy. His outfit mainly consists of an unzipped black suit over a buttoned vest, with a green undershirt. He also wears black trouser shoes, long, dark-green pants, shaded glass spectacles and a dark-green scarf with a small, purple, cross-shaped emblem on it.

He was enjoying the relative silence of his quarters when he heard the familiar chime of the elevator door behind him, the door on the left slid open and Ruby calmly walked through asking "You wanted to see us Headmaster?"

Ozpin turns around in his chair seeing Ruby's silver eyes and states "Ah Ruby, yes come in."

Ruby entered first followed by Blake, Yang, and Weiss to which Ozpin says "Ah good, the rest of your team is with you."

Weiss was the first to look around, noticing someone was missing, and asks "Where's Ms. Goodwitch?"

He kindly answers "She's currently occupied with a rather ominous situation, which is also why I've summoned you here. I'm sure you all are aware of the events that transpired several nights ago."

Yang steps in "Yeah, the midnight attack . . ."

"Precisely . . . and do you know the details of the attack?"

The girls all looked to one another which ultimately led to all of their heads shaking 'no' to which he nods understandingly and states "Well that won't be much of a problem any longer, only a few hours ago did I receive a report from the local authorities."

Rose had to ask "What happened?"

"Well from what I was able to gather the attack was pulled off by a single being with no apparent affiliation, description also tells us we're dealing with something inhuman, presumably an android, and that there were only two witnesses. A policeman who was fortunately knocked cold by the assailant and a senior citizen who was making deliveries nearby."

"What was the target?" Schnee queried.

"A single crate of dust crystals, plus one crystal from another crate."

"An entire squad of police dead over a box of dust? Why didn't it take more?"

"The motive of the attack is still unclear but right now we're doing what we can, which is where Team RWBY comes in."

Ruby gladly steps forward "What do you want us to do?"

"Given you recent history with the White Fang a week ago, you and your team is above par compared to the rest of the students here. While Ms. Goodwitch conducts her investigation alone, I require you to do a little digging yourselves. See what you can find out about this elusive marauder, hunt it down, and bring it to justice."

"Where are the witnesses?"

"The injured officer is currently being tended at Saint Valor General Hospital down in the commercial district and the man is under protection in the Vale Police Department Headquarters."

She then gladly smiles with a thumbs up "Don't worry Headmaster, we'll get it done."

"I know you will . . . but I don't need to tell you to take extreme caution. Any lone person capable of easily wiping out a squad of armed and trained men is either a tactical genius or a monster."

The girls all nodded heeding the headmaster's warning and begun making their way towards the elevator leaving the headmaster alone once more, it was only mere seconds later where he brings up a holographic display screen in front of him and stared at the photo that was on screen. A tall black figure walking among the flames of wrecked vehicles and dead men, a figure that Ozpin knew would mean serous business.

Team RWBY were coming up down the tower's main central elevator shaft where Weiss asks "Twelve people dead over a box of dust, it could've taken more but why?"

Blake answers "Because maybe that's all it needed, which means it's organized."

Rose then lays down the plan "Alright, Weiss and I will head down to the police station and talk to the old man while Yang and Blake will go see the officer at Saint Valor."

Yang acknowledges "Sounds good."

Blake followed up "I agree."

And then Weiss "Alright."

The elevator doors opened revealing the circular lift letting the girls to step aboard and make their descent down to the ground floor.

[4:57 PM, Industrial Sector]

Standing on top of a twenty story corporate building looking over the vast city of Vale, SPARTAN Deimos stood in broad daylight looking at every building there was with the built-in optical zoom feature in his helmet. It had been nearly thirty seven hours since he last heard from his command so he decided to go find a scenic lookout point. The wind blew hard against his body but he seemed unfazed by it as he enjoys the silence.

He remained standing there in silence until his radio chimed in and his major's voice crackled through "Deimos . . . are you receiving?"

The SPARTAN responds " **You remembered this time . . .** "

"We've just intercepted several reports from the local PD regarding the operation you conducted several nights ago. Did you leave any witnesses that night?"

" **Just an old man making deliveries, looked like he would've died from a heart attack at any moment.** "

"He wasn't the only one, a police officer from that night survived and was placed in critical condition at Saint Valor General Hospital. Just a few hours ago they updated his status to stable."

" **I suppose you want me to change that.** "

"No, we got new orders from _High Up_ , command needs you to head to these coordinates. There you will find a shop which holds an undercover operation for a splinter group from the White Fang that produces high end weaponry, acquire the schematics they have and put that op out of commission."

" **Use of force?** "

"Lethal, but restrict yourself to only those that pose a threat, everything else is irrelevant. We can't afford to attract that much attention again."

" **Consider it done.** "

"Report when you're finished" the Major orders before signing off the channel letting silence to flood back into the SPARTAN's helmet.

Deimos gives one last look at the city before peeking over the edge at the streets down below, he estimated the building to be nearly two hundred feet, a typical story is an average of ten feet, which was a relatively short fall for a SPARTAN. It was then when his tactical display pad, mounted on his left forearm, began receiving the coordinates of the objective which is marked at the far end of the city and uncomfortably close to the Vale Police Department HQ by a mile and a half. Nonetheless he has his orders and he is to follow them without question even if it were immoral, not that he cared for any morality because, as an ONI sanctioned sociopathic arsonist, this was his job.

After determining a proper landing point he backs up about ten feet and then goes into a full sprint rushing straight towards the edge at forty eight kilometers an hour before taking the big leap, launching himself off the ledge and go into freefall with his arms and legs spread out to help catch enough drag and slow his descent to a degree. The concrete streets were coming up fast but that wasn't his intended target, he angles himself downward in the wind which caused his body to start moving forward away from the building he jumped from, when his thrusters kicked in it launched him a great ways and helped him along towards his true target, a two story construction site that sat across the street from the building he leaped from. He quickly flips himself around from a nose dive to a feet first landing and started to give the maximum output from his thrusters thus slowing the descent even further but it still wasn't enough, his body came crashing down, smashing through the top layering of concrete and rebar and into several sandbags meant to help hold a heavy beam in place. Dust and debris kicked up around the landed SPARTAN as he climbs out of the mess he made and activate his camouflage thus concealing his body from the oncoming construction workers that heard the crash. From there he started to make his way to his object back in the commercial district.

[6:53 PM, Saint Valor General Hospital]

Upon coming up to the fifth floor, Blake and Yang steps off the elevator with several other staff and visitors and made their way over to the receptionist desk where they'll be able to get the room number the officer is currently resting in.

The two approached the desk, where a clerk is currently working behind a holographic screen and keyboard, shortly before Yang knocks on the counter top and asks "Do you know where we can find that officer from the attack several nights ago?"

"Are you the next of kin or in any way related?" the clerk asks while not taking her eyes away from the screen.

"Um . . . well no but you see—"

"Then by law I can't let you see the patient."

Blake quickly steps in "We're from Beacon Academy."

The woman stopped typing and looked up seeing the two girls for the first time and upon seeing Blake's weapon, a dark katana with a compact striker fired pistol built into the hilt stored inside a large dark grey cleaver-like sheath called _Gambol's Shroud_ , she quickly resumed typing and reports "Room 203, west side."

Both girls nodded saying "Thank you" before heading off to room 203.

It was only minutes later did they find the door leading into room 203, currently flanked by two officers in full uniform and wearing their light ballistic vests, and when the girls approached the two officers they slowly lowered their right hands down to their holstered service pistols.

Yang calmly raises her hands as a sign of non-aggression stating "Whoa boys, we're from Beacon Academy."

The officers looked to one another before they calmed down and took their hands away from their holsters granting the two girls access into the room where they'll find the injured man. They came through the door with Yang taking the lead and Blake following her in, there they found a young man in his mid-twenties with his head lightly wrapped in bandages and several flowers in a glass vase sitting next to him on the table by the bed and across the room from the door laid a window showing the city and the ocean that laid to the west.

The man was awake and alert when he turned his head and saw the two girls walk in, he motioned with his hand "Please . . . come in. And close the door behind you, the commotion out there gives me a damn headache."

Blake obliges and quietly closes the door behind her when Yang introduces herself to the officer "I'm Yang Xiao Long and this is my friend Blake Belladonna, we're from Beacon Academy."

Blake simply added "We're here about what happened several nights ago."

The man sat there for a moment trying to sit himself up but was met with aching pain and groaning, when he finally got up he replies "Not much to tell you, I was one of the first few to get taken out by that thing" he went silent for a moment but his eyes started to dart all across the room as if a flood of thoughts just came rushing into his mind which eventually forced him to ask "Wha-what happened to the rest of the squad? Nobody would tell me anything . . ."

Blake and Yang looked at one another for a brief moment before it was decided between the two that Blake would be the one to be the bearer of bad news "I'm sorry but . . . you were the only one that survived . . ."

The man made a deep sigh as a single tear ran from his eyes, but he did his best to maintain his calm and ask "You're here to find that son of a bitch?"

"That's the plan" Yang claims.

Blake then asks "Can you start with a description? What did it look like?"

The man began thinking back to that dreadful night that ended with his entire squad dying, he then started to describe the figure that stood in his mind "About seven feet tall, maybe even eight, all black armor but there was a bodysuit underneath like a real person. Small combat pistols on his thighs, had a really large rifle on his back . . . and uh . . . I think he had something on his lower back like a uh . . . well something foldable."

"Like a weapon?" Yang asks.

"Yeah . . . but the one thing I could never get out of my head is that damn helmet. It's like a black human skull but with no eyes, instead he had this big white 'X' over his face . . ."

Belladonna was quickly the first to notice something and asks "You keep mentioning _him_ , does he have a name?"

"I-I don't know . . . actually wait!" his mind raced as he tried to think back "After a second, I came back to and I heard him say something . . . it was uh . . . D-Dain, uh Damion maybe . . . oh-oh wait it was Deimos! Yeah it was Deimos! That's all I heard before I blacked out again . . ."

The girls looked at one another now knowing the name and appearance of the murderer but now came the task of finding this 'Deimos' and deal with him, they turned to the officer and thanked him for his cooperation before they made their way back out of the room.

They then started to make their way back to the elevator when Yang says "I'm going to let Ruby and Weiss know what to look for."

Blake simply nodded as she watch her pull out her own scroll, essentially a high-tech smart phone with the added capabilities to perform video livestream, aura monitoring, and identification verifying, and calls up Weiss who should be at the VPD with Ruby.

The scroll chimed for several moments before a small screen showing Schnee's face appeared and ask "Yang, did you find anything?"

[7: 08 PM, Vale Police Department Headquarters]

Inside a small room closely watched by officers, Weiss and Ruby were already in the process of questioning the old man, Phil, about what he saw that night.

Schnee had already stepped out of the room the three were in to take a call while Ruby resumed asking Phil a few more questions "So you didn't do anything when you heard the loud noises, why didn't you call for help or driven off?"

"Two things missy, first the police _were_ the help, and second I was too afraid to even move and I had every rights to be afraid."

"Ok . . . when was the last time you saw this robot?"

"When it was coming back down the street with a box in its left arm, it came to the middle of the intersection and stopped, then it just looked at me . . ."

"What did you do?"

"What could I do? I'm an old man driving a delivery truck, I could've ran the thing over but there was no doubt that thing could've probably stop a deathstalker dead in its tracks with its bare hands. Anyways after a moment of just looking, it simply vanished into thin air like a magic trick . . ."

"Like with smoke and a big bang?"

"No no, this was too subtle to be one of those flashy disappearing acts them magicians use. He sorta . . . well I don't know how to exactly put it . . . he just faded away I suppose."

Weiss comes back in leaving the door open and asks "We almost done here?"

But Rose still had one last question to ask "Hold on. Mister do you know what it looked like?"

Phil began to answer that "Well I . . . I suppose—"

"Sorry Mister but you don't need to answer that" Schnee clarifies.

Ruby had to ask "Why?"

"Because Yang and Blake already knows what it looks like, and they even have a name."

Rose began to stand up from her seat and gratefully thanks Phil "Thank you Sir, you've been a great help."

"Eh don't mention it, I just can't wait till they release me so I can go on home."

The two girls give an appreciative smile to Phil before leaving the small room and closing the door behind them, then began to make their way out when Ruby noticed Schnee was still holding her scroll with Yang's face still present, Weiss asks "What did he tell you?"

Ruby didn't reply until Schnee nudged her with her shoulder which made Rose realize that Weiss was asking her and answers "Oh um . . . he said that it didn't bother to attack him and it just turned invisible and left. Not like one of those old magic tricks but-"

"I know what you mean when you said 'turned invisible', anyways I still have Yang. Yang what did you find out?"

Ruby's big sister began "Well we know that this guy looks like he's ready for a costume party, seven or eight feet tall, full body armor, and has a helmet that looks like a eyeless skull."

Rose had to ask "Weiss said you had a name, what is it?"

"Deimos . . . at least that's what the officer said before falling unconscious."

Blake's voice came over the scroll "We need to meet somewhere and plan our next move."

The team thought for a moment trying to figure out a meeting spot until Ruby remembered something and ask "What about that restaurant down on Yvtal Avenue?"

Yang knew what her little sister was referring to but had to ask to be sure "The shop that sells pasta across the street from the pizzeria?"

"Yeah, it's only a ways down the street from the police station, we can all meet there and discuss our next plan over a yummy bowl of pasta."

"Sounds like a plan little sis, we'll see you over there soon."

Yang's face disappears from Weiss's scroll as she asks "What's this place you're talking about?"

Ruby gave a smile as she started to explain "It's called Roy's Pasta Parlor, I used to go there during my time back when I was still in Signal Academy."

"I hope the food is better than what they have at Beacon . . ."

"Oh it's the best! C'mon I'll pay for your meal!"

Schnee sighed for a brief moment before finally agreeing with Rose with some reluctance "Alright then . . ."

The two were already coming out of the police station when they looked up into the dull orange evening sky with a single massive Atlesian airship looming overhead with two squadrons of the much smaller gunships, with three individual aircraft in each squadron, flying close escort. The two proceeded to head on down the grand staircase onto the sidewalks and slowly made their way to Roy's Pasta Parlor in relative silence.

 **Please leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.**


	3. Pizza gone bad

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 2**

 **"** **Pizza gone bad"**

[May 28th, 2558]

[City of Vale, Outside Roy's Pasta Parlor]

[8: 01 PM]

Ruby and Weiss were standing outside the parlor waiting for Blake and Yang to arrive; fortunately they were using Yang's motorcycle to get there, when Schnee started to look around at her surroundings. The parlor was situated on the corner of an empty four-way intersection across from a local family owned pizzeria that seemed eerily quiet and void of life which could be expected at this time of night. Pedestrians were sparse as one or two could be seen at a time but they could still hear talking and laughter as people passes by.

They arrived nearly twenty minutes ago and after waiting for so long she decided to call Blake on her scroll, it was only several seconds later did Blake's face appear on screen, and she asks "Blake where are you? We've been waiting for nearly an hour."

Ruby however quickly remarks "It's only been twenty three minutes . . ." which in turn caused Schnee to shoot her a scornful look.

However Blake ignores that comment and states "Yang got caught speeding over the limit, said it would be 'fun'."

"It was fun!" Yang's voice blurts out from off screen.

"Anyways we're not too far away once we're done here."

Weiss nods and the screen went blank afterwards, once that was done she resumed looking about trying to find something to distract her mind or at the very least find this 'Deimos' wandering about even though the possibility of confronting him face to face was highly unlikely.

However she couldn't stop taking several glances at the pizzeria getting an unusual feeling about it, she had to ask "Hey Rose . . . what do you know about that pizzeria?"

Ruby drew her attention away from what she was looking at and looked over at the pizzeria "Oh that place, it closed down a while ago after someone got sick over a slice a pizza one day. Sad thing too because they really had good pizza."

The two continued to stare at the vacant building until a strong cold breeze blew through prompting Weiss to shudder and start rubbing her arms with her hands " _Brrr_ let's get inside . . . we can still wait . . ."

Rose however had to let out a laugh "Ha! Ice queen can't handle the cold."

"Why does everyone keep calling me that!?"

[8:13 PM, Pizzeria]

Bail, one of two head figures of the splinter group that was formally part of the White Fang, was walking through the back rooms of the closed down pizza joint overseeing the eleven people he had under his supervision as they carefully manufacture military grade weapons with the tools and machinery they stole from the White Fang, who stole the very machinery from the Atlesian Military.

He steps on over to one of the workers, a Faunus named Traynor, and asks "How's production?"

"Good so far, I got six automatic rifles done but with everyone today in total I'd say we've made about sixty to seventy guns."

"Good progress, I'll leave you to your work then."

"Appreciate it boss . . ."

Bail resumes his daily routines of checking throughout the operation leaving the manufacturing room into a small hallway that leads to the freezer units, the storage rooms in the back, and the loading bay large enough for a van to drive up and load and unload its cargo. He comes up into the storage room and peeks inside, seeing three armed guards standing watch over the crates full of weapons they built the last two weeks. One guard gives a subtle nod and Bail returned to the hallway heading down towards the freezer room that was changed into their living quarters; he takes a look in to see his leading partner, Hannah, sleeping in one of the five bunk beds that were also filled with people who worked on their day shifts. He continues down the hall until he finally walks into the loading bay where two men stood guard around the single bay door, one of the guards, Gale, seemed a little spooked about something as he was constantly looking around the room.

"Hey Gale, what's your problem?" Bail asks.

"I-I don't know . . . I could've sworn I saw somethin' . . . like a shadow or somethin'."

"C'mon man, just relax; you must be seeing things in your head."

"Nononono there's something here, I know it . . ."

Bail turns to the other guard, Harris, and asks "You see anything?"

Harris shook his head "Mm nah man . . . I haven't seen a—" and suddenly froze.

Both Bail and Gale looked at Harris for a second with the boss asking "Harris?"

Gale then quickly added with a stutter "Th-there! Look behind him!"

Bail squinted his eyes looking pass Harris to see something he never would've thought, a blur of ripples standing directly behind Harris who just then fell to the ground dead with a stab wound to his back, "What. The hell?"

Then a deep mechanical voice spoke " **You have no idea how much trouble you are all in . . .** "

The boss quickly points at the shadow and yells "SHOOT IT!"

Gale quickly raised his rifle and open fired releasing a full automatic barrage onto the figure that quickly and effortlessly moved aside and flanked the guard twisting his neck resulting in Gale to stop firing and drop the rifle onto the floor. Realizing he was about to be next, Bail pulls out his sidearm and fired a single shot that seemed to have struck its target which resulted in a bright orange flare up of energy and caused the figure to come in full view. The camouflaged killer slowly changed into a hulking seven and a half foot giant adorned in black rigid armor that he had never seen before but once the figure turned his head, showing his skull-like appearance with a big white 'X' painted on the front, he was absolutely terrified.

The giant dropped Harris onto the ground dead and drew one of his large blocky handguns from his thigh and fired off a shot that nearly took Bail's head off had he not dove behind the doorway and took cover behind the cement wall.

Bail knew he couldn't take this thing on alone but fortunately everybody were already up and taking arms after hearing the first set of gunfire, he sees Hannah rushing out of the living quarters with rifle in hands when she runs up and asks "What the hell's going on!?"

He didn't have time even explain anything as he yells "MOVE!" grabbing Hannah and dragging her through the hallway as men began to swarm out.

It wasn't a second later when gunfire rang out instantly with bullets flying every which way, everyone quickly placed all their attention on the lone black goliath that stood armed with a high-power anti-material rifle and begun firing away, hammering the giant's energy shielding, until he raised his weapon and fired the first shot that tore through three men before lodging itself in the concrete walls. He quickly latches the rifle onto his back in exchange for two handguns and fired back putting several more men down before starting his advance through the halls. The remaining few people still alive continued to rain down heavy firepower which eventually caused the attacker's shields to falter and crack, but by this time he reached the doorway into the freezer room, resulting in him diving into the room for cover.

Everybody ceased fire and waited for the attacker's next move but all they heard were a series of clicks and slides as if he was reloading his two oversized pistols, this prompted several other members to follow suit and reload their weapons as well, until they see a small black cylinder fly out of the doorway, bounce off the hallway walls, and land near their feet.

One guard takes one good look at the device before realizing what it was and yells "GRENADE!" just seconds before it detonated letting out a very harsh ' _BANG_ ' and blinding everybody else in the process.

Dazed by the blinding light and the loud constant ringing in his ears, Bail could do nothing but wait for the giant to just kill him and get it over with but when the ringing began to dull and his vision began to recover he could see the dark figure standing close to him over another person who he couldn't tell just yet. When his vision fully recovered several minutes later, he saw that everyone was already dead with gunshot wounds to the heads and chests and the attacker was already standing over Hannah with his pistol already drawn on her head.

" **Where are the weapons schematics?** " the giant asks in a threatening tone.

Hannah replied with fright "I-I don't know what you're talking about! We make dust!"

The giant sighed for the briefest moment before stating " **Wrong. Answer** " and shot her in the forehead leaving her to slump over dead.

He then looks around and found Bail still laying there on the floor dazed, he walks over and grabs the man by the front of his white light armored vest and holds him up above the ground with a pistol pressed up against his chin.

He then asks " **Where are the weapons schematics?** "

But Bail was too scared to even talk as he stared back at eyeless helmet, but after realizing that he was the only one left and alive and that this thing wanted something they had, he finally had an idea. Instead of telling the giant where the schematics were, he spits onto the helmet which ended with him getting hurled away smashing against one of the manufacturing tables close to another doorway. Bail was hoping for this and quickly got up and bolted for the door as the being raised his weapon and fired three more shots, the third striking him in his right calf, and sent him screaming down onto the floor. However the boss wasn't done yet as he gets back up and limps through the doorway and close the door behind him locking it afterwards.

He takes a quick look around realizing he was in the public area where the kitchen and dining room were placed, knowing that there was no chance of escaping this monster he needed to make one final effort right here and now. The giant began pounding away at the metal door leaving huge dents as Bail limped towards the stove area and reached behind it for a pair of propane valves, he opened the valves all the way and ripped several tubes from their connections letting propane gas to leak into the air. The attacker continued to smash against the door, which began to show signs of faltering, and Bail quickly grabbed a large rusty kitchen knife before limping towards a corner and slump down against the walls.

He heard the door come crashing down from its frame and the giant spoke in a disturbingly calm tone " **You can't hide.** "

Deimos looked around the seemingly empty kitchen area until he looks to the floor and found a trail of blood to which he promptly follows slowly, he soon comes around the corner of an island where he spots a thrown knife hurtling towards him and quickly threw up his left gauntlet letting the rusty old blade to break against his titanium armor. Upon lowering his arm he finds Bail already sitting in a small pool of his own blood, he calmly walks over and grabs him again by the neck holding him above the ground once more.

" **I'm not asking you again, if you don't tell me where the schematics are I will burn you alive and find them myself.** "

He then noticed that Bail had a smug on his face when he chuckled "Ha. I'm gonna burn anyways . . . but not without taking your sorry ass with me."

That was finally when the sensors in his helmet then picked up a strong presence of propane gas in the air and he finally saw Bail raise up a cheap plastic lighter with his thumb on the spark wheel. Unfortunately the SPARTAN didn't have time to say anything before Bail flicked the switch and made a spark.

[8:20 PM, Roy's Pasta Parlor]

Ruby and Weiss were watching Yang and Blake finally pull up on Yang's motorcycle and park just outside the parlor before stepping off and make their way towards the front door, Schnee sighs out of relief "Finally."

Yang and Blake came through the front door and found their way over to Ruby and Weiss where they all sat down in a booth with Belladonna asking "Alright what's the plan."

Everyone sat there thinking for moment unsure of what to do next until Yang had to ask "So . . . does anybody know how to find a seven foot killer giant?"

Weiss had a single thought though she didn't like it all "We could wait for him to strike again, but that mean more people would probably be killed."

Ruby sighed resting her head against her hand "Ugh. . . I wish there was a quicker way of finding him . . ."

Then by sheer coincidence, the pizzeria across the street erupted into a huge ball of fire as an explosion inside the building blew out the glass windows and front doors in a violent display of raw power and force.

A customer jumps up in fright yelling "What was that!?"

Another "The pizzeria's burning!"

"Everyone get to safety!"

As the customers and work staff ran for safety, Team RWBY rushed the other way heading out the front door and made their way to the burning pizzeria to assess the situation.

There was no reasonable explanation on how a vacant building could've exploded like this, that was until Ruby noticed something the raging inferno, she peered deeper into the flames and saw the shadow of a tall dark figure approaching with a steady march. Flames waved and embers flew around the giant armor clad being as it approached the front door with no signs of suffering from any injury or even damage from the intensifying heat. The girls then locked all eyes on the approaching figure and Yang was the first to take a clear look at the giant's helmet, seeing the eyeless skull with the big 'X' on the face, and she began to slowly step back. The others followed suit and slowly backed away from the burning building as they carefully watched the giant slowly emerge from the fires and stood just outside the front door for everyone to see.

A seven foot giant adorned in rigid midnight black armor, fists clenched as a clear sign of anger and frustration, a glowing blue 'eye' in the middle of his chest, a small variety of weapons attached to his thighs, waist, and back, and finally the skull like helmet with no eyes, teeth like protrusions, and a large white 'X' that seemed to have been lightly blackened from the flames, Deimos . . .

Yang couldn't take her eyes away from the giant but she knew Ruby was thinking about that comment she made earlier "Well lil' sis . . . looks like you got your wish."

Deimos stood in front of the burning pizzeria looking back at the four girls standing in front of him, none of them appeared to have any obvious weapons so by orders he was to ignore them and proceed to leave the area, he turns away from the four and started to walk away. He only walked two meters before his helmet's audio receptors picked up a scraping of metal like something being drawn and stopped, he slowly turns around and found Weiss with her weapon, a multi-action dust rapier fitted with a revolver-like cylinder around the ricasso loaded with different kinds of dust called _Myrtenaster_ , drawn and pointed at him.

Ruby watched as Deimos stared back at them, as if they were just young helpless children, and then he gave the team their only warning " **Stay out of my way.** "

As a response, Blake draws her sword and cleaver-like sheath and Yang, with a thrust of her two arms, activating her two golden bracelets that mechanically transformed into two heavily armored gauntlets covering her hands and forearms loaded with a belt-fed magazine of concussive shotgun shells and a small barrel over the wrists, _Ember Celica_.

Deimos chuckled lightly before reaching for the rifle on his back and brought it to bare, Ruby quickly identified the weapon as a sniper rifle due to the long barrel and high powered scope mounted on top, she then reached for her weapon, and with a series of fast paced twists and twirls of the weapon, she reveals a red foldable weapon taking the shape of a massive scythe with red frame work and black trimmings, the handle comprised of a long-barreled high caliber bolt-action sniper rifle for maximum long range combat and maximum damage output, _Crescent Rose_.

She swings the blade and dug the tip into the ground and spoke with a grin "Mine's bigger . . ."

The SPARTAN took a simple step back in shock not anticipating such a large weapon to be wielded by a young girl, nonetheless he let out a single scoff and said " **Don't disappoint me.** "

Yang couldn't help but smile at how Deimos was taking this and laughs "Finally! Someone who's going to have as much fun as I will."

Deimos made the first move by raising his rifle and fired a high velocity shot at Ruby who was surprisingly fast enough to swing the blade of her scythe up and stop the bullet just as Blake open fired with her pistol, Yang firing her gauntlets behind her causing an explosion that propelled her forward at immense speed, and Weiss summoning a large white glyph taking the shape of snowflake and using it to launch herself alongside Yang towards the SPARTAN. Deimos's shields began taking damage from the dust ammunition Blake was using and quickly took aim firing off another two rounds towards the incoming huntresses but ultimately missed his targets when they veered off their original course and closed in for the kill.

Weiss makes the first lunge thrusting her sword forward with grand speed but the SPARTAN takes a quick step back avoiding the blade but found Yang leaping over her and throws a fast right hook that connected with his rifle causing a concussive blow and knocking the rifle out of his hands. In response he draws his seven inch knife quick as lightning in his right hand and takes a wide swing at Yang who ducked backwards and skips out of the way for Schnee to come back around with her rapier in a full downward swing to which he moves the knife back in front of him and let _myrtenaster's_ rounded hard steel blade to clash against the knife's titanium-carbide ceramic blade. The two metals collided but with Deimos's augmented strength he was able to forcibly shove Weiss out of the way just in time for Blake Belladonna to enter the fray firing off the last two rounds in her magazine striking against his exposed titanium-A alloy armor leaving scratches in the plating. Deimos draws the magnum from his left thigh with his left hand and fires off a shot at Blake, who then ducked out of the way, and swings his knife around to counter Yang's charge to which she leaps over the blade and land a heavy blow to the SPARTAN's helmet with the sole of her right boot.

The impact knocked him down onto his left knee but he was still fast on the ball as he switches the knife into a reversal grip, throwing it up to block another one of Weiss's attacks, and fire off another shot at Blake before Yang cupped her hands together and brought them down like a sledgehammer smashing against his left forearm with such power it forced him to let go of the magnum. Deimos then quickly drops and performs a low leg sweep with his right foot, catching and knocking Yang and Weiss down off guard. The SPARTAN immediately gets back up afterwards and engages Blake in close combat just before Ruby joins the fight with her oversized scythe.

Blake takes a wide swing with both of her weapons for Deimos's chest but he takes a step back, avoiding the tip of both blades, and comes back with his knife in a fast jab but this failed when Belladonna skips off to the right giving Ruby a perfect swing with her scythe. She comes in with tremendous speed as she attempts to go for the legs, swinging her weapon fast and low, but the SPARTAN's reflexes were much faster than she had anticipated as he sheathes his combat knife, leaps over the swinging scythe with the aid of his EVA thrusters mounted on his back, lands right in front of her, and unload a fast and tremendously powerful left uppercut into her stomach before grabbing her left arm, twisting himself to where his back faced her, and throw her over his shoulder sending her flying across the street.

Yang, now angered that Deimos had harmed her little sister, comes charging right into the fray at high velocity, with her right fist fully cocked back, and deals a devastating blow to his chest knocking him flat out on the ground. But he quickly jumps back up and lands a clean hit himself, striking Yang's left cheek, with enough power to send her onto her back several feet away. However this only made the situation worse when he notices that her blues eyes were now red and her hair begun to burn like fire as she slowly gets back up, Yang fires her gauntlets backwards, propelling herself to near terminal velocity, and deals a bone breaking blow to the SPARTAN's right shoulder joint dislocating it in the process. She then follows up with a hard right uppercut that connected with the bottom of Deimos's helmet and sent the half ton super soldier soaring high through the air and crashing down into an empty car parked on the side of the street, on the far side of the intersection.

The car alarm sounded off in which prompted Yang to simply cross her arms "Nailed it."

"Let's hope it was enough . . ." Weiss wonders as she looks over at the SPARTAN that laid motionless on top of the car.

Several seconds of silence later and Team RWBY were beginning to think they won, that was until they began to hear laughter and watched the SPARTAN slowly climb off the wrecked vehicle as he continues to laugh.

He finally gets back onto his two feet with some instability as a sign of exhaustion when he says " **I haven't had this much fun in years!** " he stretches his arms shoulders and neck letting out a series of ' _pops_ ' before staring the girls down with open arms " **Show me more . . .** "

Yang, now agitated by his taunts, jumps the gun and launches herself like a rocket barreling towards the SPARTAN who's currently sprinting towards her as well. The two almost immediately closed the gap and each person threw their right fists towards each other and collided, the SPARTAN's augmented and genetically enhanced strength against a huntress's specialized weapon of sheer raw power. The resulting clash caused a blowback effect, when Deimos's fist collided with Yang's it triggered a second delay activation of her shotgun gauntlets, and the Ember Celica's concussive blast threw Deimos's arm back thus opening him up for a follow up attack. She takes the opportunity readying her left uppercut and her fist shoots out like a bullet slamming into his gut causing another blast that sent the half ton SPARTAN flying several feet backwards.

However Deimos gets back up with no obvious sign of injury and which Ruby, who was just getting back up, had to ask herself "How is this guy still standing!?"

The SPARTAN overheard Ruby's voice and scolds them as if he were some kind of drill sergeant " **Just like the rest of them, weak and undisciplined, and you call yourselves Remnant's elite.** "

"He's bluffing, you can tell it in his voice" Blake states after witnessing how Deimos was starting to show signs of wearing down.

That remark however seemed to have pushed Yang to the edge and she charges forward again cocking her right arm back for a final blow but only when she got within range did she realize her mistake, she attacked just as Deimos wanted her to and he was more than ready to counter her move, the only thing she could do now is brace herself for a beating.

Deimos instinctively evades the blow with a quick dash to his right and as her body passes his, he grabs her neck with his left open hand, threw her up through the air, and slams her body into the asphalt concrete beneath them like a wrecking ball, cracking the ground around her.

With Yang momentarily out of action, Weiss takes it upon herself to save her comrade and launches herself via glyph towards the SPARTAN with Blake and Ruby following up behind her. Deimos readies himself and quickly throws his left forearm, blocking Blake's cleaver-like sheath and katana, and puts distance between himself and them before Schnee was already on top of him with rapier in full thrust. He dashes to the right, evading the blade, but she comes back around performing a twirl followed up with a downwards slash across his chest, scraping across the outer layer of his armor, to which he retaliates with debilitating blow to the chest, knocking the air out of her lungs, and disarms her with a right knee to her elbow joint followed up with seizing her neck and a hard hitting blow to the side of her head, thus knocking her out cold.

"Weiss!" Ruby cries out as she closes the distance behind Belladonna.

Deimos sees the two girls inbound and takes the unconscious heiress by her left foot and began to spin creating momentum the faster he spun and hurls Weiss through the air to where her body slams into Blake's, knocking her to the ground as well, leaving only Ruby to deal with him for the time being.

Young Rose however wasn't deterred and continues on course but this time she switches her strategy, she closes in like a torpedo and just as SPARTAN Deimos launches himself into the air in order to avoid another swing, she digs the tip of her scythe into the ground and used it as a pole to launch herself into the air after him. She puts her two boots together and swings herself into the mid-air SPARTAN, slamming her feet into his chest, and knocking him back down onto the ground.

Deimos slams into the concrete beneath him but then immediately rolls backwards, and puts his hand against the road where he exerts all his strength into launching himself through the air and back on his feet just in time to dodge Ruby's scythe as it came downwards.

Ruby kicks her scythe out of the ground and aims the end of the barrel at the SPARTAN before she demands "Who are you!?"

He made no verbal response but instead drew his other magnum from his right thigh and fires a round to which she moves her scythe in the way to block it and immediately aimed the tip of the scythe behind, firing the high caliber sniper rifle backwards, propelling her to extreme speeds. He fires off several more rounds, all missing their target, and quickly holsters his magnum just before Rose closes the distance and swings the blade over her head bringing it down on him. The sheer speed and ferocity gave Deimos little to no time to even get out of the way, upon seeing the scythe come down he throws his two hands up into the air and catch the weapon by its red framework holding it before the blade could've sliced through his entire body.

Ruby became shocked at how truly fast and responsive his reflexes were, though she virtually outclasses him in every scenario regarding speed, this SPARTAN's reflex were truly superior compared to hers, which were impressive enough already. Deimos then used his augmented strength to toss the scythe out of the way and seize Ruby's neck in his right hand, she tries to free herself by repeatedly punching and kicking him in his stomach and groin but to no effect, without her Crescent Rose she was useless.

It was then when the sociopathic arsonist takes his first good look at Rose's silver eyes and red tinted hair that struck him familiar from something some years back, he pulls her in closer for further examination muttering " **Your eyes . . .** "

Ruby could hear the SPARTAN's subtle breathing through his helmet as she continued to struggle to free herself but the SPARTAN's grip remained steadfast as he continues muttering to himself " **I've seen those before . . . but where?** "

"Let me go!" she cries out as she slams her bare fist down on his titanium gauntlet.

Deimos continues staring into her eyes trying to figure out where he had seen those silver colored eyes before, unfortunately his time ran out when he hears Yang's voice roar out "LET GO OF MY SISTER!"

The SPARTAN only had enough time to look only to see Yang's blood red eyes and her left shotgun gauntlet just mere inches away from his face, the incoming blow smashes into his faceplate like a freight train causing him to let go of Ruby's neck and send him hurtling through air and into the burning pizzeria through a shattered window.

Rose fell to the ground with her hand over her neck as she gasps for air until her sister picks her up to her feet patting her back asking "You alright?"

"Yeah . . . I'm gonna go get my scythe back if you don't mind."

She starts walking away from Yang, who went to go see about Blake and Weiss, and made her way to her scythe that laid on the floor. At first she seemed relieved that Yang saved her from Deimos but something in the back of her head told her that this wasn't over just yet, she retrieves Crescent Rose and folds it back into its compact form and looks into the flaming pizzeria, then she started to walk back to the others until she heard a loud crash come from inside the building. Only then did she look to see a small black cylinder be thrown out of the burning window heading straight for Yang and the others.

She only had time to yell out "WATCH OUT!" before the device bounced onto the ground several feet from the others.

Both Yang and Blake looked at the device for a mere second before it detonated releasing out very loud ' _BANG_ ' followed up with a blinding light, Rose was fortunate enough to shield her eyes from the blast but her ears were affected and everything was replaced with a loud constant ringing in her ears. This however does not stop her from turning her attention to the blazing pizzeria moments before she catches sight of Deimos leaping out of the fire, through the same window he was knocked through, with a magnum in his right hand. He lands on the ground and takes aim at Yang and Blake who were still disoriented from the flashbang grenade he had thrown, but Ruby had a clear line of sight as she takes her weapon back out again, this time into a medium-length bolt-action rifle, and took the shot.

Deimos was beginning to pull the trigger when the high caliber round tears into his lower back, piercing his titanium nanocomposite bodysuit, tearing clean through his body and out the other side causing him to roar out in utter agony and fire off a wild shot into the air. He shoots young Rose a death stare before realizing the outcome of this fight was no longer in his favor and that a retreat was the only viable option left.

He holsters his magnum back onto his thigh and readies another flashbang as Ruby tries to close the distance but she was too late once he arms the device and gives it an under toss, throwing it into the air just above her when it detonated, blinding her and making her deaf just like her teammates.

Ruby couldn't see a thing other than the bright white light but the effects only lasted for five long seconds but even when color started to come back into her vision everything still seemed to be a great blur, eventually her vision cleared up and the ringing in her ears subsided. Once she recovered she quickly began to look around the intersection to find no signs of the seven foot SPARTAN, other than the weapons he had no choice but to leave behind, but found that the rest of her team were safe from harm, though it can't be said for Schnee who still laid unconscious.

She folds her weapon back onto her back and makes her way over to her team and ask "Is everyone alright?"

Blake was covered in cuts and bruises but she still calmly answers "I'll be fine."

Yang suffered the same kind of injuries, albeit more severely, and yet she still maintained that positive attitude and near carefree smile "That was _way_ more exciting than what I had planned for tonight. Now that's what I call ending a night with a—"

"Please don't say it . . ." Blake begs.

"Yang!"

Ruby had to admit it "You were thrown into street and you were just blinded by a grenade, I'm surprised you're still full of energy."

Yang wraps her arm around her little sister's head and began rubbing her knuckles against it in such a playful manner "Aw sis, you should know."

"Let me go! Stop it Yang!"

Yang eventually lets go of Ruby's head and kneels down next to Blake and Weiss asking "How's Weiss?"

Blake could only give her assumption "Can't tell . . . it'd be best if we get her back to Beacon, let a nurse take a look."

Ruby takes a look around the intersection seeing Deimos's forgotten rifle and magnum and suggests "We should probably take those weapons with us, they'll probably help us learn about who we're dealing with."

"Good plan Ruby, I'll go ahead and bring them with us" Yang states before she heads off to pick up the scattered weapons.

It wasn't long before the sound of sirens rang in the distance as police, ambulances, and firefighters rushed to the scene and contain the situation, "About time" Blake remarks as she begins to pick Weiss up into her arms.

First responding vehicles finally arrived on scene and men and women rushed out to block off the intersection and tend to the fire still raging on inside what's left of the pizzeria. The first two teams of paramedics rushed to the team and began checking up on them but when they started to administer medical aid the girls declined, it wasn't much longer after that for a Bullhead VTOL aerial transport to loom overhead and land in the streets. The team headed on over and found Headmaster Ozpin and Ms. Goodwitch waiting for them inside, they gathered everybody aboard and the airship began to lift off the ground, making its way back to Beacon Academy.

Ozpin sits down in his seat with his cane and asks "With the damage done here I can assume you found the culprit?"

"More like he found us and he's no pushover" Yang claims.

Goodwitch looks down at the unconscious heiress laying in Blake's lap and adds "Then he's much more dangerous than we anticipated."

However Ozpin maintains his stoic posture "Nonetheless, what you have learned today will greatly help us in our hunt for this monstrosity in the near future. Once we return I want you all to see the head nurse and get your rest. Tomorrow I want to see you in my chambers where you will brief me and General Ironwood of what you know."

"Yes sir . . ." the girls responded with a nod.

On that note Ozpin and the others remained for the rest of their trip back to the academy.

[10:42 PM, outside the city walls]

High in the trees in the seemingly endless forests that surrounds the city of Vale, SPARTAN Deimos was tending to the bullet wound Rose inflicted on him with what few tools he had available inside a UNSC duffel bag he hides periodically outside the city and keeps track of.

He was finishing cleaning the wound that was already treated with biomedical foam when his radio came to life and he hears the major's voice that was filled with frustration "SPARTAN, you better have a damn good reason why the police chatter lit up like a goddamn Christmas tree over a pizzeria on fire and what sounded like a full on war! Did you at least acquire the weapon schematics!?"

" **No sir, I was executing the mission as planned but the splinter group destroyed the building and everything inside before I could acquire the objective.** "

"And what about the fighting that happened afterwards?"

" **I proceeded to leave the AO but I was immediately engaged by a team of huntresses. It would seem they were expecting me.** "

The major sighed and asks "Did you eliminate them?"

" **. . . No sir.** "

"Damn . . . alright we can deal with this minor setback. We can't proceed with any further missions until these huntresses are out of the question."

" **They will send more . . .** "

"Then we'll need to send a message. Do you remember what they look like?"

" **I possess a photographic memory, I never forget a face.** "

"Good, as of now I'm granting you independent mission parameters, use whatever you see fit to make sure these huntresses keeps their noses to themselves, I don't care if they're dead or alive."

" **Consider it done. However I need to make a requisition for better hardware. I'm sending you the list of equipment now.** "

The major's voice fell silent as he receives the list and goes over the individual requirements, he only got half way through before asks "What wrong with the gear you have?"

" **They were . . . lost beyond recovery during the fighting.** "

A sigh came from the major "Fine . . . I'll see what I can do. Your equipment will be tagged with a GPS once it drops. Until then, make do with what you still have."

" **Yes sir.** "

The radio went dark leaving the SPARTAN to his lonesome self once more, a thing he grew accustomed to over the years he's been operating on the world of Remnant, nonetheless he finishes up with his wound and decided to rest for now to let his body heal and allowing his MJOLNIR [GEN2] Powered Assault Armor to initiate its auto-repair sequence, curtesy of the onboard storage of nano-machines that could fix just about everything manmade.

However as he settles himself on the thick branch he sat on, he couldn't stop thinking about Ruby's silver eyes when he looked into them, something about her eyes seemed all too familiar to him but he wasn't quite sure where to place them. The longer he thought about that the more he grew tired and so he eventually let the subject go for now and looks out to the city lights for one more minute before closing his eyes and fall asleep.

 **Please leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.**


	4. Two way hunt

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 3**

 **"** **Two way hunt"**

[May 29th, 2558]

[Beacon Academy, Dorm Rooms]

[The next day, 11:12 AM]

The morning daylight shined down through the window into Team RWBY's dorm room, down upon Yang's face as she snored in her bed with her blanket only covering half of her body, eventually the light woke her up from her snoring peace and her eyes opened up to see her little sister Ruby, in her pajamas, working diligently around Deimos's recovered rifle that laid on her desk. Upon further examination she saw that Rose had already unloaded the weapon and dissembled it to a certain degree as she discovers the inner workings.

Yang eventually sits up with a long stretch and a yawn before climbing out of bed asking "How long have you been up Ruby?"

Rose looks behind her to see her big sister and returned to her work "About four hours."

Yang eventually comes by and looks over Ruby's shoulders, seeing every individual piece that came from the weapon until her eyes came to a stop on the two large 14.5mm projectiles that came from the rifle's box magazine, she picks up one of the bullets and simply looks at the casing and shell which prompted her to ask "What do you know about this?"

Ruby's love and knowledge of weapons have been known to be virtually limitless, but since this was a new field of arms, she was quite interested "My best guess from the design and the markings on it, it's an anti-materiel rifle, made by a company called 'Misriah Armories', and used by a 'UNSC' whatever that is."

"Never heard of those two names before . . ." Yang remarks before she looks at the magnum that seemed untouched, she puts the bullet down and picks up the large hefty handgun, 2.7 kilograms, and asks "And this?"

"That's a high caliber magnum, same maker, same buyer. Deimos was really loaded out for a small war . . ."

Yang pulls the top slide backwards, locking it in place, and looks inside the exposed chamber seeing nothing but tiny components that seem to work in unison to help the weapon fire without flaw. She sets the magnum back down on the table and looked over to see Blake still asleep in her top bunk above hers, and then turned to the other bunk bed to see Weiss, with her head wrapped up with bandages, still lying unconscious in her bed ever since they came back to Beacon last night, and Zwei, their Pembroke Welsh Corgi with black, grey, and white fur from top to bottom, sleeping next to her. Fortunately the nurse said that Weiss should be fine as long as she stays in bed but it wasn't clear as to how long it would be before she could wake up.

It wasn't long until Blake began to stirs from her sleep and saw the two sisters and the dissembled rifle displayed on the desktop, she sits up stretching her arms before climbing down her top bunk and look down at Schnee for a brief silent moment before she approaches the others and see Rose's handiwork.

After several quiet minutes of observation and further dismantling, Blake began making her way over to her drawer to get dressed as she states "Ozpin would probably want to see us as soon as possible."

Yang agreed and taps on Ruby's shoulders which prompted her to reluctantly leave her desk and begin getting dressed like the others.

It didn't take long for the three girls to get fully dressed and equipped before Yang and Blake opened the door and headed out, however when Ruby was about to be the last one out she looks back at Zwei, who was now awake and staring at her with his innocent look in his eyes, and asks "You take care of Weiss ok Zwei?" to which the corgi gives a cheerful bark before she closed the door behind her.

Then by cue once she fully closed her door, the door behind her opened up letting the members of Team JNPR to walk out fully dressed and equipped as well, Jaune Arc, the team's leader, walks out from their room first and asks "Hey Ruby, how's Weiss?"

Ruby jumped not realizing Team JNPR hasn't reported to classes yet, the only reason RWBY was allowed to sleep in was to recuperate after their battle with Deimos, she turns around and asks with a surprised tone "Oh Jaune! She's doing fine, why hasn't your team gone to class yet?"

"Uh dunno" Arc replies with a shrug as his teammates walk by "Ozpin came to us and said we should sleep in and then see him in his chambers when we wake up. I take it that's what you and your team are doing too right?"

"Yeah . . ." she replies as she and Jaune began to walk together behind Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren who were just several steps ahead of them.

"Got any idea on why he wants to see us all?"

"I have an idea . . . but you'll know more when we get there."

"Fair enough."

[11: 28 AM, Commercial District]

SPARTAN Deimos was sprinting along the city's rooftops with exceptional speed leaping across open streets and small enclosed alleys from roof to roof as he makes his way to a certain location that might have people that can help him in his new priorities. During his time on the world of Remnant, and around the Kingdom of Vale in particular, he had heard talks about a man who goes by the name of 'Junior' who owns a club in the southern part of the district along the main river that carved its way through the heart of the city. Supposedly this guy was an information broker who a lot of people would deem to be a highly regarded source of information.

The SPARTAN-lV leaps across another open street with speed and momentum as he closes in on the location within several hundred meters, not even slowing down as he runs across the rooftops, until he came to a sudden full stop at the edge of the final street where he looks down and sees the target building, a multi-story dull grey concrete structure with tinted windows, red curtains draped around them, and a single unguarded door, just below him across the empty street. He carefully looks around the sidewalks to find no one and simply steps off of the ledge, falling down to the concrete ground beneath, and came down hard against the sidewalk with his weight coming down like a hammer causing the ground beneath him to crack and crumble.

He slowly stands back up and begins making his way across the street quietly, slowly approaching the front door, when the door opened up and a man, average height, black suit with matching shoes and hat, red glasses and red tie, and what appeared to be a fire axe hanging from the man's belt. He pulls out a small cigarette from his carton and begins looking for his lighter, checking his pockets, but could never find it.

He give a silent sigh before a black armored hand extends out to him holding a lit lighter, his eyes follows the arm back to the seven foot giant with a skull-like helmet who then said " **Here . . .** "

The man hesitated for a moment before he quickly reaches for his axe with his right hand, but before he could even firmly grasp it, the giant launched his left fist into an uppercut directed towards the man's gut, when the SPARTAN's uppercut slammed into the man, he crumpled like a sack of potatoes onto the ground with the cigarette loosely held in his mouth. Deimos then grabs the guard by the back of his shirt collar and drags him into the building with his legs trailing behind.

It was only mere minutes later when he began to come up onto what appeared to be a wall but he could see a bright light coming from a crack in between. Once he came within several feet, the door automatically began to open granting him entrance into a large empty night club with glass pillars reaching up to the roof, a dance floor in the center consisting of bright squares emitting a steady white light, a large bar area to the far left, a series of sit-in booths to his right, and on the far side across from the entrance is an elevated area where a man wearing a bear mask stood behind his turntable. The club was nearly void of life save for the several goons in identical clothing, two identical girls with black hair but different colored clothing, one red and the other white, and a single tall figure sitting over by the bar with a glass in his hand.

Nobody really noticed the seven foot SPARTAN standing at the entrance until he tosses the unconscious man down a flight of stairs that laid before him, creating a series of loud noises as his body hit every step until coming to a stop at the bottom. Within an instant all eyes were on him and every guard that was present rushed towards the foot of the stairs with weapons drawn ranging from mere fire axes to small handguns compared to his large bulky magnum.

The man over by the bar looked over and yelled "What's going on here!? Agh dammit!" before slamming his empty glass on the bar counter and got up.

Everyone could hear the man grumble under his breath as he made his way over but Deimos heard clearly what he was saying through his helmet's audio receptors "One week, one damn week of smooth business is all I asked for . . ."

He steps through the small crowd of guards until he stops at the unconscious guard on the ground, kneels down to check his pulse, then stands back up and turns to two of his men and gave an order with a voice of authority "You two, get Frankie outta here!"

He then turns to Deimos standing on top of the stairs and points a finger at the SPARTAN "You better have a good reason for roughing up Frankie, or we're going to have problems."

" **Are you Hei Xiong, also known as Junior?** " he asks as he looks down at the man he assumes is Junior.

"Who needs to know?" Junior replies confirming the SPARTAN's suspicions.

" **I'm in need of information, and I heard you're the best provider in town . . .** "

"And what makes you think I'm not just going to have you thrown out!?"

" **Because I will raze this place to the ground if you don't tell me what I need to know. And I don't think you can afford to pay anymore expenses after what happened a few months ago.** "

"This freak has a point" the girl in the red dress remarks with some sass in her voice "That blonde bitch almost wrecked the joint."

Deimos shifted his eyes from Junior to the girl asking " **Blonde?** "

Her identical sister, dressed in white, steps up saying "Yeah and she needed to be taught a lesson too . . . You're the guy from last night, the one from that pizza joint."

The SPARTAN shrugs his shoulders " **I might be . . . how did you know?** "

The red sister remarks "You came to the one place that knows about everything, how did you not expect us to know it was you from last night. We hear all and see all."

" **Fair point** " he comments before putting his sights back on Junior and asks " **So what will it be?** "

The club owner thought about his options for a brief second before he gives the order "Alright everyone cool it" followed up with a mutter underneath his breath "Not like you clowns can do anything about it."

The goons holsters their weapons as Junior motions his hand to the SPARTAN to follow, soon enough the two, plus the twins, were making their way over to the bar side by side when he asks "So what's your name?"

" **Deimos** " he replies giving Hei a brief glance.

"Deimos huh? Sounds dangerous . . ." the girl in red comments.

He glances over to the twins and asks " **And you?** "

The girl in white in answers "We're the Malachite twins and that's all you need to know."

The group approached the bar and Junior took a seat along the bar waving his hand to the bartender, signaling him to get him another drink, and asks "So what kind of information you're lookin' for?"

Deimos takes a seat next to Junior, with the Malachite twins taking their seats next to him, and asks " **The blonde they mentioned, what's her name?** "

But Junior takes a big gulp from his shot glass before he answers "Her name is Yang Xiao Long, she's a huntress attending beacon academy just like everyone else there."

" **And her team?** "

Junior takes one last gulp "We don't got much on them, just names mainly. Little red riding hood with the scythe is Ruby Rose, she's one of those special people that can use one of those things, you don't see a lot of her kind around."

" **She is also Yang's younger sister from what I heard.** "

"Right. There's also that quiet girl uh . . . Blake I think it was. Yeah she's the one we know nothing about other than her name. And there's Weiss Schnee."

" **The heiress from the Schnee Dust Company based in Atlas?** "

"That's the one, and since she has a huge profile I can get you anything you want to know about her."

" **I have my own sources for that.** "

He firmly places the empty glass on the counter "Then why the hell are you here if you have your own sources?"

" **Because you're the only one that knows or knows someone that can get into Beacon Academy.** "

Junior and the Malachite twins stared at the SPARTAN for what seemed to be the longest silent minute before Militades, the twin dressed in blood red, asks "You're not thinking about getting in there are you?"

" **I have a score to settle with those girls.** "

Junior couldn't help but grin on the thought of getting back at Yang for destroying his club those months ago, he turns his chair facing Deimos and says "Alright the only way you're going to get into Beacon is through the airdocks. All you need to do is get on an airship, but I don't know how you're going to make it there without getting noticed."

" **Just get me on an airship and I'll handle the rest.** "

"Alright alright, I can make a few calls right now if that's what you want."

" **That is exactly what I want. The sooner I get into Beacon, the sooner I can deal with the huntresses.** "

Junior shrugs "Hey man the sooner the better. I'll go ahead and make those calls" before standing up from his seat and walk away.

Deimos remained seated, looking at the array of alcoholic drinks that were displayed in the cabinets in front of him until he heard Melanie, the other twin dressed in white, say "Soo . . ."

He turns his eyes to hers just in time to notice her looking up and down at his armor and suit and compliments "I like your color . . ."

[12:07 AM, Headmaster's Chambers]

"Military? I've never heard of a Misriah Armories or even a UNSC. You're certain?" General Ironwood asks after hearing Ruby's first assumptions on the Deimos's background.

"It would seem that way" Goodwitch remarks.

"And because of this, young Ms. Schnee is unconscious . . ." Ozpin lastly adds.

"We're going to find this guy, right?" Ruby asks as she looks into the adults' concerned expressions.

"What other option do we have?" the general retorted.

Goodwitch adds "It's just the matter of how to find him."

"We'll need every resource available to find this man, or whatever he is. Which is where you all come in . . ." the headmaster states as he looks at Team RWBY and Team JNPR standing side by side.

"I am entrusting each and every one of you with the task of finding and capturing this 'Deimos'. Use whatever resource you have at your disposal and do not let up for one moment if you find yourself in a situation with no way out. But I do not need to tell you how dangerous this man is, so it is imperative that you do not travel alone at any time, you will work alongside your partners in tracking down every available lead you find. Be vigilant, be strong, and most of all, be safe. Do I make myself understood?"

Both teams nodded confidently "Yes Headmaster."

Ironwood however didn't like the idea of sending children to find a masked murderer that killed an entire squad of law enforcement officers, however he still retained some degree of trust for his friend and did not bother to say anything in contradiction to what Ozpin had just said.

"Good . . . you may go now . . ."

The two teams nodded in acknowledgement and begun to leave, two by two the passed through the elevator door with Pyrrha pressing the button behind them.

The general sighed deeply asking "There's a dangerous man running loose in the streets after killing an entire squad of armed officers , I can have troops move in and capture this thing, but you're sending children to hunt him down? Do you honestly believe they can do it?"

Ozpin slowly stood up from his seat and started to venture his way to the large display of windows overlooking the academy and city, and says with distinction "Yes, as a matter of fact I do. They've shown promise during their time at Beacon, they're smart, strong, fast, and brave. They have the tools and skills to complete the task at hand."

The general had nothing more to say except "I hope you're right" before he begins to leave as well.

[12:12 AM, Elevator lift]

On their way down the shaft, the members of RWBY and JNPR were already developing a strategy to find and capture their target, Jaune states "Nora and Ren can make their way down to the docks, seeing that's probably a good start to search for criminals, while Pyrrha and I will head over to pizzeria to see if there's anything we can find in the ruins."

So far everyone liked the plan, but Ruby asks "Great . . . but where do we go?"

Yang was quick to answer "Blake and I are going to head over to a 'friend' I know, maybe he'll know something or two about where we could find Deimos. You on the other hand are staying here to watch over Weiss."

Blake adds "And it also looked like Deimos took an interest in you, it's safer for you to stay here."

Ruby felt somewhat heartbroken knowing she was going to have to stay behind but she understood her friends' concerns and the fact that she needed to be there for Weiss when she wakes up, she gives them an understanding nod, despite the displeasure in her eyes, and decides to sit this one out for now.

Yang then informs JNPR "We all know what to do, but if you find Deimos don't try and take him. Wait for some of us to get to you."

JNPR nodded in acknowledgment shortly before the lift reached the ground floor and the doors opened up letting them off. Team JNPR continues their way out of the building while Yang and Blake stops and tries to comfort their distraught leader.

"Don't worry sis, we're only going out to the club and ask around, nothing exciting should happen" Yang reassures her.

Ruby nodded lightly before Yang places her hand on her shoulders and leave with Blake at her side. Once they gone out the door, Rose eventually turns and slowly makes her way back to her room where Weiss and Zwei were waiting for her.

[1:11 PM, Pizzeria]

Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos finally arrived to the scene where police and firefighters surrounded the scorched remains of the pizzeria, which was nothing more than a hollow shell of ash and dust, and approached the fire chief who was giving orders to two firefighters.

The two firefighters nodded to the orders they were given and heads off together just in time for the chief to turn and meet the two new arrivals and ask with his calm gentle British accent "Judging from your equipment I take it you're from Beacon?"

The two nodded and the chief continued "We found traces of propane gas and weaponized dust cartridges inside the building, creating a perfect setting for a hellfire, it only needed a small spark to set it all off. When we first got here everything had already gone to hell in a basket and it took us seven hours and four of our engines to finally put it out."

"Cartridges? For guns?" Nikos asks with a baffled expression on her face, curious as to why ammunition was found inside an abandoned pizzeria.

"That's right. In fact when we got further inside we started to find bodies" he then points over to the distance where a small array of black bags were lined up next to each other on the sidewalk "You can take a look if you want but it's not pretty."

Arc looks over at the charred pizzeria and asks "Can you take us inside?"

The chief nodded "Of course, I'll show you around" gesturing them to follow him inside.

One by one the three entered through the front door seeing nothing but ash, they slowly ventured their way through the dining area and pass the front counter when the chief stopped and pointed towards a corner in the kitchen, seemingly much darker in color in contrast to the rest of the building.

"We believe that's where the fire started, with all the concentration of propane in the air it caused an explosion that set the rest of the building on fire. We found the first body in the corner, or at least some of it, with a used lighter."

The chief resumes his walk with Arc and Nikos close behind, the pass through the next doorway, which had a metal door that was busted down by something powerful and blunt, like it was rammed, inside there were several charred tables with tools and industrial equipment that survived the fires.

The chief stops one last time stating "This is all we've managed to find that survived the fire, everything else was torched. You two can stay here as long as you need, we made sure the structural stability was good before we started sending men in."

"Thank you chief" Pyrrha gratefully replies before the chief tips his helmet and walks back out the door.

The two started to look around before Jaune found a doorway leading further into the building and states "I'm going to head further back, see if there's anything."

"Be safe" she replies as she watches him go.

However he turns around, walking backwards now, and points his thumb to himself with his charismatic smile "Ey don't worry about me, I'll be just fin—AHH" before tripping over something under his foot and fall to the ground."

Pyrrha couldn't help but give a giggle as she walks over and finds him laying on his back on the soot covered floors, "What was that about me not worrying?" she asks as she extends her hand down to him.

Arc chuckled with some humiliation behind his voice "Yeah-ha, uh forget what I just said" once he was back on his feet he looks down on the floor and states "I tripped over something and it rolled out from under me . . ."

"It rolled?" she asks before looking down searching for whatever he may have stepped on, and found it.

All she had to do was turn around and found a small cylindrical object resting on the ground, she kneels down and picks the object up, seeing it was just large enough to comfortable rest in her gloved hands she brushes all the ash and dust off, revealing it to take the shape of a soda can but with a black casing and a gold strip going across the mid-section, and find indentations and markings in bold white letters.

[ **M32 STUN GRENADE]**

 **[UNSC]**

"UNSC?" Arc asks.

"Just like Ruby said back at the academy. Deimos was here for sure, but why?"

"The chief said the stuff they ammunition here, what do you think all that machinery is for?"

The question prompted the two to head back into the room with the tables and quickly brushed off one of the machines, to find the Atlesian seal stamped on the side and underneath a set of letters.

 **[ATLESIAN MILITARY]**

 **[STANDARD-ISSUE RIFLE MANUFACTURING STATION]**

"Whoever these people were, Deimos came across a weapons manufacturing operation . . ." Pyrrha states upon seeing the markings and writings.

Jaune quietly looked around for a moment before suggesting "I think we should look at those bodies now . . ."

The two eventually made their way back out onto the streets where they walked over to the body bags, two coroners were already loading the bags into a vehicle for transport when a third approaches the two with a raised hand signaling them to stop.

"Sorry but we're getting these bodies back to autopsy. You're gonna have to stand back."

However Jaune argues "We're from Beacon, we just need to know who these people were."

"There's not much to tell, nearly all of them were dead before the fire, gunshot wounds to the chests and heads, one with a broken neck and another with a stab wound to the back."

"Anything on where they're from?" Nikos asks.

The coroner said nothing, instead he walks on over to their vehicle and reaches inside pulling out a blackened vest showing the unmistakable red insignia of the White Fang. Jaune and Pyrrha exchanged a brief glance to one another before thanking the coroner and begun to make their way out of the scene. Both now had theories of what happened before Team RWBY encountered Deimos and fought though they only could fill in the gaps, Deimos was tipped off from an unknown source concerning the operation and was sent to destroy it, after killing off the White Fang he needed to make sure it looked like an accident, thus pumped propane into the air and light it.

I'll call the others to let them know what we found" Arc states as he pulls out his scroll to which Nikos nods approvingly.

[1:23 PM, City docks]

Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie were already coming onto the edge of the docks, seeing nothing but hangars, shipping crates, some with the Schnee Dust Company logo printed on their sides, and the vast blue sea that glistened under the sun. Quiet and often patient, Ren's magenta eyes scans the immediate area looking for any possible signs of trouble but none were to be found, unlike his partner Nora who seemed all too giddy and excited as if she had a question to ask.

And then it came out "Have I told you about my dream last night?" she asks with that cheerful expression on her face.

Ren sighed briefly before asking "It's about pancakes isn't it?"

She gasps "How did you know!?"

"Because if it's not about us killing Grimm then it's something about pancakes, and vice versa."

She became silent for a single moment before asking "You want to hear it anyways?"

"Sure . . ."

As Nora began describing the events of her bizarre dream and the two began walking through each loading area, Ren kept his eyes darting every which way taking everything into account looking out for a hulking black figured as RWBY described.

His concentration was broken when his scroll began to chime, he pulls it out and finds Jaune's image on the display, he expands the screen and Jaune appeared on a live video feed along with Pyrrha right next to him.

"Ren, we just left the pizzeria. Looks like Deimos stumbled on a White Fang operation and torched the place."

"What were the White Fang doing inside an abandoned pizzeria?" Ren had to ask.

Nikos answers "Manufacturing weapons, with atlesian hardware."

Arc resumes "I'll call the others when we hang up, where're you two at?"

Ren takes a moment to look around before spotting a bold white number painted onto the doors of a closed hangar nearby, "We're close to hangar twenty six, everything seems—"

Two distant gunshots rang out from further down the docks and caught the two's attention, Pyrrha noticed their concern and quickly asks "What was it?"

"Gunshots-two of them. We're going to check it out."

"Wait for us to get there, if it's Deimos then it's going to be hard enough for all of us."

"Got it, get here quick."

The feed disappeared from view as he tucks the scroll away and motioned Nora to follow her in the quietest manner possible, to which she nods happily. The two moved swiftly and quietly as they moved onto one the deserted piers where two hangars stood in silence, one built up on the left side of the pier near the mid-section and one built further down towards the end.

They approached the mid-section and begun climbing up the side of the hangar that stood, Ren maintaining his silent principle quietly and expertly leaping from ledge to ledge unlike Nora who drew her weapon, an oversized warhammer with the ability to transform into a six-round grenade launcher named _Magnhild_ , and slams the face of the club down hard into the ground, activating the weapon's secondary effect of detonating an explosive, launching herself into the air high enough to clear the hangar and land on top just as Ren reaches the top at the same time.

"You and I have very different definitions of 'quietly'" he remarks.

"You think?" she asks rhetorically .

Another gunshot rang out prompting the two to stay low and make their way to the other side of the rooftop where they'll find a good view of the other hangar where the shots are supposedly originating. Once they reached the other side, getting down into the prone position, they crawled all the way to the edge where they could see the hangar with wide open doors and several bodies splayed out across the ground.

Soon enough they found a man, adorned in standard White Fang gear and uniform, make a mad dash attempting to flee the pier as fast as he could yelling out in a frightful panic "OH GOD OH GOD OH GO—" before another shot echoed and the man fell silent onto the cement, dead.

The two watched closely waiting for any signs of movement from inside, but nothing showed and there was nothing but silence, they waited anxiously trying to understand what's happening but Nora couldn't wait any longer, wanting to get some needed action.

She stands up and leaps off the building down onto the ground below despite Ren's brief panic as he reaches out with his hand yelling "Wait!" but once she landed he couldn't help but let out a sigh and jump down after her.

He lands right next to her and firmly states "We're supposed to wait for the others" but once she started to walk cheerfully towards the hangar he adds "But you're gonna go in there anyways . . ."

"Yep."

He couldn't let his partner go in there alone, and no way in hell he was going to stop her, so he begins to walk alongside her as they begun to approach the hangar. They soon started to pass the dead man lying on the ground with a nasty gunshot wound to his back, his white protective vest done little to defend against whatever high caliber weapon struck it, both Ren and Nora felt uneasy seeing the man lie there and continued onwards towards the open doors of the hangar.

Only minutes later and they were now standing in the open doorway into the hangar looking inside, seeing nothing but stacked wooden crates and more dead bodies, Ren pulls out his scroll once more to let everyone know they're going in to investigate but it turns out that his signal was weak and disrupted, as if something inside was jamming it.

He tucks it away moments before he sees Nora walk inside ahead of him and he follows her in all the while seeing the littered bodies on the ground as he passes them, some with gunshot wounds to the chest and heads while others were stabbed or had their necks snapped. He quickly catches up with Valkyrie, who has already passed the last of the bodies at the hangar entrance, and began taking glimpses at the crates seeing labels with the emblem of the red wolf, recognizing the property of the White Fang.

Nora casually looked ahead waiting for something or someone to appear but none dared to show themselves, that was until she began to hear whimpering just on the other side of a wall of crates she was beginning to pass. Ren heard it as well and decided to draw his weapons from his sleeves, a pair of green full automatic pistols modified with extended magazines and large collapsible sickle-like blades mounted under the barrels called the _Stormflower_ , and Nora gladly brings her hammer to bare before she takes a heavy swing and demolishes the wall of crates in a single blow.

"OH GOD JUST LET ME GO!" a man cried out as the duo found him in a fetal position facing away in a corner.

The man was obviously part of the White Fang, given his uniform, but he was also utterly terrified when he refused to turn around when Ren lowers his two auto-pistols and ask "What's going on here?" in his usual calm tone.

"He's out there man . . ." he said loud enough for the two to hear but then he went into a whisper "He knows you're here . . . you have to be quiet or he'll find you . . ."

Ren begins looking around searching for movement while Nora asks in her normal voice "Who's here?"

But the man got up and spun around with a finger up to his lips "SHHHH! You got to keep it down . . ." it was clear that this man was in the middle of a traumatic breakdown, who can blame him after witnessing all of his friends get murdered?

Ren decided to lower his voice for everyone's sake and ask "Who's here?"

"That _thing_ , it killed everyone starting off with poor Bailey. Wh-where's Ray? Did he make it out?"

The two begun to wonder if the man that had ran out of the hangar before was Ray, so Ren solemnly shook his head 'no' and that caused the man to panic even further with a gradually raising voice "Oh man . . . oh man oh man that's not good . . . I-I gotta get out of here!"

Then in a mere instant, the small wall of crates sitting behind the man violently bursts into small wooden fragments as if something had just smashed its way through and grabs hold of the man who begun to yell and struggle to free himself from a seemingly invisible force that had him in a headlock.

"HELP!" the man yelped before his attacker swiftly twisted his head, resulting in a bone cringing crack, and fell to the floor dead.

Ren raised his pistols up on to his target and Nora readied her hammer when a large, seven foot, giant slowly materializes into plain view, featuring rigid black armor and the telltale skull-like helmet with a white 'X' painted on the front. The hunter takes a brief step back as a precaution but his partner was shifting her weight left and right like a professional boxer as she became a little too giddy itching for a good fight.

The giant then spoke in a low raspy voice synthesized by a voice modifier in the helmet " **You have no idea how much trouble you two are in . . .** "

 **Please leave your thoughts and comments. Thank you.**


	5. Docks and boxes

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 4**

 **"** **Docks and boxes"**

[May 29th, 2558]

[City of Vale, Industrial district]

[1:32 PM]

Juane Arc and Pyrrha Nikos were making haste through the industrial district in an effort to reach Nora and Ren at the docks, Jaune seemed extremely nervous and afraid as he repeatedly tries to call either one of them from his scroll but no luck turned up when neither picked up and answered.

"Why aren't they answering?" he asks himself as he tries to call Nora's scroll again.

Pyrrha rests her hand on his shoulder in an effort to comfort him "Jaune don't worry, the docks probably have bad reception. I'm sure they're still waiting for us."

"And if they're not?"

"They can take care of themselves, don't worry . . ."

Arc sighed for a brief moment before pulling up Blake's number and dials stating "I'm going to call Blake and Yang and let them know what's going on . . ."

Within several seconds, Blake's face appeared on screen as she sat on the back of Yang's motorcycle, named _Bumblebee_ , and asks "What?"

"Ren and Nora are down at the docks and they aren't picking up. We think something happened."

"We're almost coming up at the club Yang's been talking about, once we're done there we'll head to the docks and see what's going on."

"Thanks, Pyrrha and I are already making our way there now."

Belladonna gave a silent nod before the display disappeared from view, all they could do now was getting to the docks as soon as possible and so on that note they traveled with haste.

[The club, commercial district]

Yang was beginning to slow down as she takes a right turn off of the main streets into one of the many off branching roads, ever so getting closer to their destination, when she asked "What was that about?"

Blake tucks her scroll away as she replies "There might be trouble down by the docks, Jaune and Pyrrha are heading over there now."

"Good, if it's Deimos then I want a rematch, but first I want to say hello to an old friend . . ."

The two eventually pulled over onto the side of the street and parked the bike in front of a club that belongs to an acquaintance of Long's. A man appeared shortly after the two huntresses climbed off their bike, dressed in his usual black suit and red tie with matching glasses, and brought out his phone texting to whoever it may be. Blake was readying herself for a fight but she noticed Yang's casual walk towards the front door, she sees the man look up to see them and just by his expression she knew that this man was utterly terrified by them, or Yang by closer examination.

The man took several steps away from the door as Yang got close enough to playfully point her two fingers towards him while giving a wink, saying "Sup . . . don't mind if we come on in don't you?"

The man hesitantly walked over to the door and opened it for the two girls letting them in before closing it and gives a deep sigh of relief.

"He seemed to know you . . ." Blake remarks about how the man reacted upon seeing Yang.

Long shrugs nonchalantly "Eh I might have gotten into a little disagreement with some of the fellas here."

"Might?"

"Ok ok . . . I wrecked the joint asking Junior some questions a while ago."

"Wow Yang, don't you ever slow down for something?"

"Nope."

They were beginning to approach a wall when it opened up giving them entry into the club, seeing numerous guards doing their daily tasks before the club opens up later tonight, and it didn't take long for Yang to find the boss sitting over by the bar with the twins close by. One by one, men around the huntresses catches sight and slowly backs away in an attempt to keep as much distance as possible while the DJ, wearing a bear mask, simply takes cover behind his turntable and hide.

That was when the boss himself turns around in his seat and spots Yang and Blake coming up, he asks rather brusquely "What do you want Blondie?"

"I'll take a strawberry sunrise, with no ice, oh and a little umbrella on top" she muses with her carefree smile.

Junior signals to the bartender to get what she wants and then waves the Malachite twins off before the two huntresses sat down next to him, he asks again "Now what do you really want?"

The bartender slides the shot glass across the bar counter over to Yang, who then caught it, and she asks "You know anyone going by the name 'Deimos'?"

"Never heard of the guy . . ." he answers carelessly looking away.

"Who said it was a guy?" she asks catching his words "Remember what happened the last time you said you didn't know?"

He carefully places one hand over his crotch and gives in with a sigh stating "Yeah I know him, scary bastard that's for sure".

"You've met him?" Blake asks.

"This morning . . . he's real ticked about last night."

Long takes a sip from her sunrise and asks "Yeah well tough luck, what did he want?"

"He just wanted names and contacts. So I gave it to him."

"C'mon Junior, you know you have to give us more than that, I mean unless you want to repeat what happened the last time."

"Ok ok . . . look all I can say is after what your team did to him last night; he's lookin' to return the favor. You're hunting him right?"

"Yeah?"

"Well he's hunting you too. And when everyone's the hunter, it ain't safe for anyone."

Blake and Yang briefly glanced at one another before Long asks "What else did he want?"

[1:53 PM, Docks]

Ren quickly lets off a short burst of automatic fire from his dual auto-pistols, sending small caliber rounds downrange pelting against Deimos's energy shielding with moderate effect, while the seven foot giant charges towards him with his right arm risen to act as a shield as he shrugs off the incoming rounds. The SPARTAN closed in fast with no signs of slowing down under fire and forced Ren to swiftly jump out of the way before the giant smashed himself into several stacked crates, breaking them apart entirely.

Ren resumes firing away as Deimos backs out of the wreck he made and draws his own magnum to return fire. The two exchanged fire for several moments, Deimos embraced the incoming fire as Ren's shots eventually broke down his shields and ricocheted off of his titanium armor while Lie expertly dodged and weaved through the return fire the SPARTAN gave out, until they both ran out of ammunition for their weapons, only realizing after each combatant heard several clicks from their own guns.

The SPARTAN holsters his magnum in exchange for his combat knife and began aggressively approaching Ren, who readied his own two blades mounted onto his pistols and charged, until the two clashed with Deimos making a quick jab and Ren quickly dodges before taking two separate swipes to which the aggressor counters by throwing up his arm to block the first, intended for his neck, and evade the second, meant for his lower torso.

Deimos comes back swinging a left hook for Ren's head but the hunter ducks and moves off to his right before he comes up throwing a swift left uppercut, sending his blade cutting along the SPARTAN's helmet and leaving a long scar across the faceplate.

He backs away from the hunter for a brief moment, running his hand across his helmet feeling the scar, and growls before stepping back in and launch a right fist with knife in hand but Ren quickly attempts to deflect the incoming blow with his left handed blade, however the SPARTAN's augmented strength proved overwhelming and knocked the pistol out of Ren's hand.

The hunter however quickly retaliates by dropping to a crouch position in a twirl and drove his right handed blade into the giant's right upper thigh, just missing the actual armor by a margin, " **ARGH!** " Deimos cries out as the blade tore into his leg.

Ren quickly withdrew as the SPARTAN makes a swing at him, in an attempt to grab him, and quickly reloads his only pistol before firing off another quick burst of fire but failed when he finally realizes that his automatic pistol didn't possess enough stopping power to inflict major damage against Deimos's titanium-A armor. By that time Deimos was closing in, seemingly unfazed by his leg wound, and cocks his right arm backwards ready for a killing blow but Ren instinctively reacts, retracting his one pistol back into his sleeve, and quickly develop a type of energy barrier using his aura with his own two hands.

Deimos's fist came smashing down against the barrier like a sledgehammer, causing Ren to flinch under his augmented fist despite not taking any physical harm from the blow, and after seeing his first attempt failed he began to pound away at the barrier left to right alternating between fists slamming down against the gradually draining shield. Each blow further weakened Ren's strength and aura as the barrier drawn upon it after each impact, he was highly skilled with his aura but even then it still takes a heavy toll on his strength for a time when he uses such techniques, and that's when the SPARTAN-lV threw the final blow that shattered the barrier into pieces leaving the hunter exposed.

Before Ren could even get a firm grasp on his pistol Deimos had already lunged in and seized his neck and right arm, all the while staring into his magenta eyes, as he struggles to free himself " **You're certainly a handful** " the giant complemented.

"Urgh you're really that blind aren't you?" Lie asks as he surprisingly maintains his calm

" **What do you mean?** "

"You lost track of someone didn't you?"

" **Oh yes. The orange haired girl with the hammer . . . though it doesn't really matter in the next few minutes when I find her.** "

' _C'mon Nora, where the hell are you?_ ' Ren thought to himself as Deimos began to squeeze around his neck until the two heard a cry from above "Yoohoo!"

The two looked up and spotted Nora standing on a support beam high above them to which Deimos had to ask " **How did she get up there?** "

"You really don't want to know . . ." Ren replied not taking his eyes from Valkyrie.

"GERONIMO!" Nora cries out with the laughter of joy as she leaps off the beam with hammer in hand and plummet to the ground where the boys stood.

The SPARTAN quickly hurls Ren aside, sending him smashing through several wooden crates, and attempts to evade the incoming attack but Nora came too fast for him slamming her hammer into the ground next to him, sending a secondary blast into the ground causing the concrete around her to crumble and burst, and sent the half ton SPARTAN through the air until he came crashing down on several boxes where he temporarily laid dazed from the impact.

Nora however wasn't convinced Deimos was out of the fight just yet and charges in for another attack, just as soon as the SPARTAN began to get back up onto his feet, and launches herself into the air with her hammer in full swing. The super soldier was back on his feet just in time to see Valkyrie coming in fast as she takes a high swing with her hammer, intending to smash his face in, but he immediately ducks under the club and perform a quick roundhouse kick to her back, sending her face first into the same set of crates he fell into.

However, much to his amazement, Nora leaps back into action practically unharmed from what just happened and swung her hammer around yelling "SMASH" just as the club slams into his side thus sending him hurtling into a set of stacked crates with sheer ferocity.

Ren was climbing out of the destroyed crates the SPARTAN threw him into when he coughs and asks "You couldn't have done that any sooner?"

Nora cheerfully replied "Oh c'mon, you were having fun adm—" just as Deimos comes charging back in like a bull and rams the huntress into another set of crates.

Valkyrie quickly stands to her feet and begins twirling her hammer around her body, making multiple fast paced swings at the SPARTAN, as Deimos ducks and skips out of the way trying to deliver another blow but Nora eventually ceases her constant twirling and brings the club high above her head before bringing it down to where he once stood after he jumps out of the way.

Deimos saw this as his opening and swiftly darts back in, with the aid of his armor's EVA boosters emitting light blue thrusts from his back, and lands a heavy blow to the side of Nora's face causing her to stagger back stunned from the hit. However it surprised the SPARTAN when she came back, despite the large bruise he inflicted, with a somewhat mischievous smile and her hammer coming fast and low in a swift uppercut that impacted his gut and sent him soaring through the air over several isles of crates and containers before crashing down into the ground approximately twenty meters away.

"And it's a homerun!" Valkyrie cheers just as Ren collects his other pistol and stands next to her.

"C'mon, we've got to make sure he's out of the fight" Lie states before he and Nora began making their way to where the half ton SPARTAN crashed.

[2:12 PM, Dorm rooms]

Ruby Rose laid in her bed, with Zwei at her side, as she decided to catch up on some homework she missed yesterday mainly due to the task of finding out who killed the squad of police. She currently only had two more things to do before she was done, the first was writing down a six thousand word essay over the history of the four kingdoms for Professor Oobleck, and a quiz over how the Grimm hunts their prey and how they interact within their own natural environments for Professor Port, and fortunately most of the teachers were kind enough to grant her and her team additional time to complete their work before turning it in.

She finishes writing down another paragraph in her essay so she turns to the sheet of paper next to it, Port's quiz, and read the next question ' _Each Grimm species senses what to track their target?_ '

Remembering what Oobleck said to them back at Mountain Glenn a week ago, she writes down the answer ' _Grimm senses negative feelings of other beings, sadness, anger, fear._ '

After writing the answer down she sets the pencil aside and sighs in boredom before looking at her loveable corgi next to her and gently rubs his back as he slept. Tired from the writing she's done since Team JNPR, Blake, and Yang left, she decides to take a break from the work and sit up on her bed before looking down at the desk where the SPARTAN's dismantled sniper rifle and magnum laid idly.

Out of boredom and interest in the new weapons they found, Ruby slowly climbs out of her bed as to not wake up Zwei and finds Weiss still laying in her bed, still unconscious which made her wonder if she'll ever wake up, before she makes her way over to the desk and examine her work so far.

As of now, the anti-materiel rifle was dissembled into numerous little components while the barrel and main housing remains the two largest ones yet, the only thing she hasn't really touched was the high powered scope she detached from the rifle early this morning. The magnum however was largely untouched at all since they came back, Ruby takes the weapon into her hands and sits down next to the desk where she begins to examine the gun.

The magnum was awkwardly large for her small hands and it weighed a hefty six and a half pounds for a weapon of its size, the gun sported a black polymer finish and the weapon itself seemed very basic as if there could be attachments made to it. She flips the gun to the other side, where its right side faced her, and read the labeling that was printed on the slide:

 **MODEL 6C**

 **UNSC PROPERTY 2552**

She was still puzzled about this 'UNSC' but the number '2552' didn't quite make sense to her at all. Deciding to figure that out at a later time she puts the handgun back in its place in exchange for the rifle's scope, large enough for it to be held by two hands like a pair of binoculars, and head over to the single window that showed much of the Beacon campus grounds including the main campus buildings, and more notably the campus's main tower where Ozpin's room is situated, several hundred meters out.

She raises the scope up to her eyes, seeing the actual focusing lens on the left side and a small monitor display on the right, showing distance, elevation, wind speed and direction, and stares into the lens to see what was happening outside.

The first thing she saw was Team CFVY, consisting of Coco, Fox, Velvet, and Yatsuhashi, walking across the campus courtyard, presumably onto their next class, before she turns her sights over to the Cross Continental Transmit Tower lying in the distance. At first the scope wasn't quite at full power until Ruby found a small notch on the side and turns it, enhancing the zoom, until the tower was shown in more detail.

She starts to pan upwards until she sees the windows leading into the tower's control room and that was when a voice spoke out in a calm English male tone that seemed to hold a negligible amount of personality " _I doubt you'll find anything worthwhile up there, might I recommend you looking somewhere else?_ "

She immediately takes the scope away from her face and quickly looks around the room, expecting someone to be standing in there with her, but found no one other than Weiss, Zwei, and herself.

Confused and somewhat creeped out she asks out loud "Who's there?"

" _Well that depends on your definition of 'there'. Right now I know there's a girl lying unconscious on the bed next to you and a mangy mutt sleeping on the top bunk._ "

Zwei quickly woke up to the unfamiliar voice and begins to growl, causing the voice to correct itself " _Never mind that- the mutt is awake . . ._ "

It took Ruby several moments to finally realize the voice was coming from the optical package in her hands, she holds the optics up to her, with the lens facing her, and asks herself in disbelief "A talking. Scope . . . either I'm imagining this or you just became the best attachment in the world."

" _One. I'm not a talking scope. And two. You're not imagining this._ "

"Wait if you're not the scope then what are you?"

" _I am something more than just a mere voice inside of a Oracle-N variant scope, I'm an AI._ "

"AI?" the young huntress asks herself trying to understand what that meant.

The voice sighed in frustration stating " _I suppose this is the reaction I get from a minor. AI stands for Artificial Intelligence, one of humanity's greatest technological minds in history._ "

"So . . . you're a computer."

" _A crude and somewhat quick summary of what I just said. But for your sake, yes, I am a computer . . ._ "

"Ok . . . do you have a name?"

" _Name? Personally I don't go by a name due to my simple task and brief life. I'm a 'dumb' sub-process of another AI that goes by the designation BBX 8995-1, or Black Box as some people would call him._ "

"Dumb? You don't really sound dumb to me."

" _I'll take that as a compliment, but no that's not what I meant. For AI standards, 'dumb' just means that we AI have a diminutive amount of thought processes unlike our 'smarter' counterparts. But in my case since I was created by a 'smart' AI it is safe to say that I am far superior than your average AI and certainly far superior in intellect than any human._ "

Ruby was now beginning to become interested in this AI more than she would've thought "So what's your task?"

" _My priorities is strictly classified and on a need-to-know basis. In which case for you is nothing at all._ "

"Then what're you doing with Deimos? I know you know something about him."

" _Well for a young girl you're not as ignorant as you look. I am simply a spectator, that is all there is to know._ "

"Well you're not doing a good job at that right now aren't you."

" _On the contrary, I am well on task as long as I can see. I simply observe and record._ "

Feeling that this AI wasn't at its most forthcoming, Ruby decides to climb up into her bed and quickly wrap the scope in her own blankets much to the AI's displeasure " _Seriously?_ "

"Unless you tell me what you're doing here, I'm not letting you out."

" _I'll tell you what I'm doing, currently sitting under a filthy blanket that needs washing. I've seen trashcans cleaner than this._ "

"Hey that's mean! Well you can just forget about coming out for the rest of today!"

" _So childish of you . . ._ "

[2:33 PM, Docks]

Nora was hurled through another stack of wooden crates as Ren quickly makes his stand against the ever advancing SPARTAN super soldier, who's armor continued to shrug off the incoming rounds, until Deimos makes a fast right hook for the hunter's head. Ren ducks just in times and quickly springs back up to deliver a right uppercut but the SPARTAN's reflexes were too quick as the giant catches his fist, engulfing it within his own gauntleted hands, and begins to slowly crush it as Ren grimaced in pain. Deimos then starts to bend Ren's arm backwards to the point where Ren couldn't take it, unable to counter it with the pain, until he raises the young hunter off of the ground and firmly slammed the bottom of his armored foot into his abdomen sending him sprawling through the air onto the ground in a small clearing of crates.

Nora was soon back on her feet but in an exhausted state as she watched the SPARTAN draw closer to them to finish this fight once and for all, that was until a familiar female voice barked out and caught everyone's attention "You leave them alone!"

Everyone turned their sights to Pyrrha standing near the hangar entrance at the ready with her weapons, a hybrid weapon in her right hand, named Miló, currently taking the form of a javelin but capable transforming into a double-edged sword called a xiphos, and a semi-automatic rifle. In her other hand is a Greek Dipylon-style shield, made of extremely resilient metal capable of withstanding tremendous damage and razor sharp edges for easy cutting, called Akoúo̱.

Deimos looked at Pyrrha and quickly made a threat assessment in his mind, judging from the ancient clothing and armor she wore he could expect some form of ancient Greek combat style and the determination in her eyes meant that she's not going to play around, Pyrrha was now considered a moderate threat. However the blonde hair boy next to her was a different story, not much of a muscular build and carried what seemed to be pretty ordinary weapons, a mere longsword with a white shield that can be assumed to rival Pyrrha's in terms of sturdiness, and the boy himself seemed unwilling and intimidated by the SPARTAN's unnatural size and appearance, ' _negligible_ ' Deimos thought before turning to face Nikos.

"This is your only chance to come peacefully. Stop this violence now!" Nikos orders with a sense of authority behind her voice

" **And who're you to stop me?** "

"Pyrrha Nikos and my friend Jaune Arc."

Jaune however asks nervously "W-Wait can we talk this over?"

"I'm not going to talk with a man who enjoys killing people and destroys property" she replies angrily, mainly directed to Deimos.

The SPARTAN however shrugs it off " **It's my job. Wake up and deal with it because a lot more are going to follow.** "

"You're a murderer . . ."

" **No. I'm a monster.** "

On that note Deimos begins to charge straight towards the huntress with full force and the intent to kill without remorse, Nikos quickly readies herself, with shield up front and javelin ready for the kill, just as soon as the SPARTAN was on top of her with his fists cupped together high above his head. The hit came down fast like a wrecking ball slamming hard against the shield and causing her to lose her balance for the briefest second before she was able to make a proper response, thrusting her javelin forward with agility but Deimos expected this and quickly steps off to the side, avoiding the tip of the spear, and deliver another heavy fist against the shield.

Jaune quickly stepped in with his sword in full swing but his attack was poorly executed and this allowed Deimos the perfect opportunity to block the blade with his armored gauntlet, grab the hunter by his hoodie, and throw him head first into a crate that shattered under his weight. Nikos moves in, switching her weapon to sword mode, and take a high swing for the SPARTAN's throat but Deimos swiftly leans back, letting the blade pass by harmlessly, and was ready to finish this with one blow. He cocked his left as far back as possible and launches it like a rocket aimed directly at her head, with enough force to crush her skull and maybe even break her neck, but then for no unexplainable reason he misses by a margin despite the fact that he was sure it would've struck her.

Now with the SPARTAN unbalanced by the miss, Nikos takes this opportunity to swing her left arm, with the shield in hand, as hard as she could slamming her shield straight into his chest causing him to stagger backwards a couple of steps now stunned. Deciding to press the attack, she charges straight for the giant where she launches herself in the air and slam her two feet against his chest to knock him back even further followed up with a roundhouse kick to the gut, causing him to bend over, and finish it up with a blow to the head with her shield once more where it resulted in the half ton SPARTAN to be knocked onto his back surprised. He then re-categorizes Pyrrha's threat assessment from moderate to significant and made ready a proper response to this sort of problem.

Nikos wasn't about to let up for one moment, fearing that if she does then she risks the entire team, and readies her sword for another swing but once she let loose, Deimos's instincts kicked into gear forcing him to throw up his right hand and catch the blade in mid-swing effectively stopping it and render her unable to disengage.

He steadily stands back up onto his feet, reassuring his dominating height over everyone else, and stares down into Pyrrha's vivid-green eyes through his skull-like helmet and spoke in a much more threatening tone than before " **My turn . . .** "

Then in an instant Deimos delivers a debilitating blow to her stomach, forcing her to let go of her sword, followed up with a quick right hook that was immediately blocked by the huntress's shield in a desperate attempt to protect herself but ultimately failed when he seizes her left upper arm in his right hand and launch a fast left uppercut into her exposed side. Pyrrha quickly plants her right boot against his stomach and pushes off of it, freeing herself from the SPARTAN's grasp, before she lands and throws her shield, like a discus, straight towards the giant where he throws up his left arm and deflects the incoming projectile causing it to bounce off into a different direction. However without him noticing, the shield bounced off of numerous walls and beams before coming back and strike him in the back where it then bounced back to Pyrrha to which she catches and puts back on.

Deimos stands to and charges once more but his moment was cut short when a grenade detonates in front of him, throwing out a pink dust cloud, and a brief volley of gunfire racks his armor. Once the dust settled the SPARTAN could see all of Team JNPR standing at the ready, albeit exhausted to varying extents save for Nora, and it was apparent that they were not going to back down anytime soon.

Pyrrha notices how the SPARTAN was beginning to show signs of exhaustion, evidenced by the rising and falling chest at a slow pace, and states "He doesn't have much left in him . . ."

"Neither do we . . ." Ren points out.

Jaune sides with Nikos on this and states "We just gotta outlast him until he gives out . . ."

And it was Nora who finally cries out "LET'S BREAK HIS LEGS!" and slams her hammer into the ground, launching herself towards the SPARTAN with the others close behind.

Deimos knew this was going to end one way or another and charges towards the oncoming team, he quickly watches Valkyrie bring the hammer over her head and slam it down into the ground in front of him, the ground bursts from underneath him causing everything to be thrown into the air including himself. The SPARTAN however had gradually adapted to Nora's attacks during their fight and quickly used this to his advantage as he soar higher into the air just a mere few feet above Nora herself, and his left foot shot out like a bullet slamming into the side of her face.

He soon comes back down and immediately draws his magnum to fire off a rapid five round semi-automatic burst towards Pyrrha, who was quick enough to bring up her shield just in time to block the shots and then immediately brings the shield over herself in order to create a launch platform for Jaune as he leaps onto it and quickly jump into the air. The SPARTAN quickly spots young Arc coming through the air and decides to face him directly by launching himself into the air, once in the air he brings his shoulder to bare and slams himself into the hunter's chest, forcing him to let go of his sword, and seize the weapon for himself.

With Deimos now armed with Jaune's sword, Ren quickly goes on the offensive with his dual blades and engages the SPARTAN in another close quarter fight, he takes a wide swing towards the agile hunter but Lie immediately ducks below the blade and manages to get behind the giant to dig his right handed blade deep into his armored back. Deimos roars out in pain before he comes around with a left fist in a uppercut but the hunter leaps over the SPARTAN and retrieves his weapon from his back, the super soldier comes back around again with his sword in full swing over his head and brings it down onto Ren who was able to block the attack with his two blades.

However the SPARTAN's augmented strength began to work in his favor as he begins to push down onto the hunter who was beginning to falter under the increasing weight until Jaune rushes back in and leaps onto Deimos's back in an attempt to throw him off balance which worked. Deimos staggered back and forth as he tries to wrestle Arc off of him but the boy was turning out to be more of a nuisance than anything else when he refused to let go despite the SPARTAN's constant shaking and attempts to grab him.

Despite his body flailing about, Arc held onto dear life as he calls out "Pyrrha! Aim for the lower chest!"

This gave Nikos the perfect opportunity to strike as she switches her weapon back into javelin mode and thrust the tip forward directed towards Deimos's lower torso but, despite what was happening on his back, the SPARTAN was still fully aware of what was happening around him and swiftly avoids the blade, albeit somewhat clumsily with the additional weight that was Jaune. It was only several seconds later when he grabs a hold of Arc's right arm and forcefully throw him off onto the ground however, to Deimos's surprise, the hunter shown to be remarkably resilient and quite stubborn when he steadily gets back up and charges again only to receive a right backhand to the face from the SPARTAN, knocking him back onto the ground.

That sort of abuse reminded Pyrrha of Cardin Winchester, the leader of Team CRDL who used to torment Jaune in the similar manner, and she became ever more aggressive in her efforts "This ends here" she claims.

She quickly latches her shield onto her back, meanwhile changing her javelin into rifle mode, and fire off a high powered shot that slammed into the center of his armored chest causing him to stagger back a couple of feet before she uses her semblance, polarity, and strip Jaune's sword from the SPARTAN's hands.

With her target now disarmed she equips her shield once more she calls out "Nora!"

Nora was already back on her feet by this time and leaps onto Nikos's shields preparing to use it as a launch platform and launches herself directly towards the disoriented Deimos with hammer in full swing. Valkyrie's _Magnhild_ makes a perfect impact against the SPARTAN's body and activates its secondary explosive ability, sending the half ton soldier sprawling through the air until his helmet slammed against a nearby wall and fell to the ground below.

Nora was at first cheerful and delighted until she saw Deimos slumped against the wall and whimpered "Aww, I think I broke it."

Pyrrha was deeply out of breath after that and asks "Did we . . . do it?"

Jaune sheathed his sword and stowed his shield before he walks over to Nikos and reply "I think so . . ."

"Promise me you two will be here the next time we fight something like this" Ren asks.

Pyrrha couldn't help but smile in the end "Well. At least it's over."

However a dreadful and somewhat exhausted voice replied " **Not. Yet.** "

Smiles of joy quickly vanished from JNPR's expressions as they watched Deimos struggling to get back up to his feet, but eventually succeeds in the end, and Pyrrha asks in shock "How is he still able!?"

Then in next moment they see the SPARTAN pull out what seemed to be a baseball-sized green metal ball with a black tip on top, the soldier presses his thumb against a red switch which began to blink repeatedly, Jaune recognized the weapon as something similar to the used flashbang they found in the pizzeria and calls out "Grenade!"

Before anyone could've done anything, Deimos hurls the grenade off to the far side away from everyone until it bounced onto the floor next to an array of fuel tanks and pumps, and Pyrrha yells out "RUN!"

All four members bolted for the hangar entrance frantically trying to escape the ensuing blast and utter destruction of the entire building, when the grenade finally detonated it caused an immediate chain reaction of explosions of fuel in dust munitions throughout the entire building until a much larger explosion went off and shook the entire pier, the resulting shockwave threw JNPR onto the ground though they were fortunate enough to get about thirty meters from the building before it became a burning hot inferno.

The group didn't bother to get up as they rested on their aching backs and watched the building burned and bellow large amount of smoke into the air, "Now it's over . . ." Pyrrha sighs in relief as she lays back on the concrete beneath her.

It wasn't long before they started to hear the familiar roar of an approaching vehicle followed up with a distant "Guys!"

Jaune was the only one to look and found Yang and Blake pulling up in their motorcycle, when the two climbed off and walked over, Yang asked "What happened?"

"Deimos happened . . ." Arc replied.

Belladonna stared at the raging flames and asks "He still in there?"

"Pretty sure."

Yang then asks "So. It's over then?"

Then by cue, the flames crackled and roared as a lone black figure appeared out of the raging inferno moving as if everything that just happened never really mattered, " **You should really try better next time . . .** " a voice called out with a disturbing calm.

The hunters and huntress's quickly formed up and readied themselves for another fight, although JNPR were no longer in decent condition to wage another fight like they did, when Ren comments "I think a better question now would be: How did he survive that?"

Yang calls out "You just don't know when to quit don't you? I kinda like that, too bad that you're not my type though!"

The SPARTAN stops at about ten meters from the group and replies " **These four put up a better fight than you did, I must say that your fighting style did not amuse me at the slightest . . .** "

"Oh yeah!?" Yang barks back seconds before she arms her shotgun gauntlets and propels herself forward to extraordinary speeds.

She rapidly closed in on Deimos, who didn't bother to move at all, until she launches her right fist like a rocket straight for the SPARTAN's helmet. This ultimately failed, to everyone's shock, when Yang's fist phased through the SPARTAN entirely as if he were a ghost, on that matter it seemed that his entire body became distorted during the very brief timeframe of her arm passing through.

Yang was surprised most of all when she turned to see the SPARTAN in good health asking herself "What the-!? Oh come on that's not fair!"

Deimos in turn faces Long and states " **Just so everyone knows, I'm far from being done. I'll see you all soon . . .** " moments before his entire body disperses into millions of tiny fragments of light.

With the SPARTAN now out of sight the group slowly gathers up and prepared to make their way back home where JNPR could see to their wounds and everyone will plan their next move. However out of the corner of everyone's eye, Deimos, currently cloaked and carrying a large metal case over his right shoulder, was slowly making his way out of the area so he could tend to his wounds and continue gathering the equipment and data he needs for his own plan.

But overall to no one's awareness, Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black, close partners and associates with the currently imprisoned Roman Torchwick, stood idle on top of a nearby roof overlooking the events that had just transpired.

Mercury was thoroughly impressed by the amount of damage Team JNPR and what they perceived to be a robot had done, "Think we could use one of those?" he asks.

"Somehow I don't think the Atlesian's made that kind of robot, though we could use one if we know where to get it."

"Think we should let Cinder know?"

"She's going to find out anyways, probably better to hear it from us first."

On that note the two receded back into the darkness as first responding units arrived on scene to quell the raging fires while Team JNPR and Team RWBY headed back for Beacon Academy.

 **Please leave your thoughts and comments. Thank you.**


	6. Proper Responses

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 5**

 **"** **Proper responses"**

[May 29th, 2558]

[Beacon Academy, Dorm Rooms]

[5:49 PM]

Ruby was sitting in her desk chair next to Weiss when she hears talking on the other side of the door before the door handle turned and opened letting Blake and Yang to walk in, fortunately unharmed but Yang seemed rather bummed out.

"Did you find him?" Rose asks feeling concerned about Yang's expression.

Blake answers "Yeah, but we lost him the moment we got there."

"What happened?"

"Ren and Nora found him down at the docks and decided to take him on alone. By the time we got there, everyone was exhausted and the building was on fire."

Yang then adds with a hint of agitation in her voice "Yeah and apparently he can make freaking clones of himself!"

Ruby quickly asks "Clones?"

Belladonna quickly corrects them "Holograms, realistic ones too."

"And now we're back to square one . . ." Long states as she sits down in her bed with her head rested on her hands.

"Well . . . I wouldn't really say that" Ruby remarks.

Both of the girls looked at their leaders with Yang asking "What do you mean?"

The young Rose stands from her chair and begins climbing up into her bed, on her way up she explains "Well earlier today I was checking out Deimos's weapons a little more until I found this . . ." and unveils the anti-materiel rifle scope from under her blanket.

The other two blankly stared at the optical package before Blake states with an unamused look "You found a scope. That was already there before . . ."

"No-no-no, there's something inside the scope, a talking computer. He called himself an 'AI'."

"An Artificial Intelligence?"

"You know about those?"

"They're pretty rare even by atlesian standards, the only one I've known is the one in the transmit tower."

Yang asks "So you're saying, that there's a talking computer inside of a scope?"

Belladonna remarks "Deimos can make holograms of himself, turn himself invisible from what Ren and Nora mentioned, has what seems to be some sort of shielding around his body, and was able to hold his own against two teams of hunters and huntresses. It's not crazy to think he has an AI in his rifle scope."

Rose nodded "Pretty much yeah."

There was a long moment of silence as everyone looked at the seemingly ordinary scope until Long asks "So why isn't it talking?"

"I-I don't know . . . I think probably because we got into a bit of an argument, then I shoved him underneath my blanket. I don't think he liked that . . ."

"Well then how are we going to make it talk?" Blake asks crossing her arms.

Yang quickly suggests "We can always threaten it!" while pounding her fists together.

"I don't think that'll help our cause Yang . . ." Ruby clarifies.

The three sat there, pondering for any solutions, before Blake simply states "Ruby could always apologize . . ."

The two looked at Ruby which prompted the young leader to raise the package to head height, with the outgoing lens on her, and apologizes "I'm sorry for stuffing you in the blankets. No hard feeling right?"

There was no response whatsoever from the AI for the next several moments, that was until the scope chimed with two quick ' _bing'_ and the English voice spoke once more " _No I suppose not. However I believe we have to work on sleeping arrangements next time, I prefer not to sit idle to any one of you for a single night while you sleep._ "

"Oh hey it does talk! Cool that means it can do my homework!" Yang chirps with joy.

The AI however replied brusquely as Ruby set him down next to her " _Not on your life you temperamental child._ "

The huntress quickly stands up cracking her knuckles "What'd you just say?"

"Yang don't! He's the only thing we have on Deimos and it's not an ' _it_ ' it's a _he_ " Ruby corrects.

Blake asks as her partner slowly sits back with an agitated expression on her face "Ok, does he have a name?"

"Well . . . no actually. Oh wait, hey what if we give him a name?"

" _That will not be necessary. Just call me after my creator's name, Black Box._ "

Yang didn't like the name, waving her hand in disapproval, "Nah too long, besides who would have a name 'Black Box'?"

" _My creator . . ._ "

"Shut up. How about Butler? He sounds like one."

" _No._ "

"Rocky?"

" _Absolutely not._ "

"If he wants to be called Black Box then let him" Blake states with little care for picking names.

Rose eventually came up with her idea "Why not just call him BB? It's short for Black Box isn't it?"

" _That would work . . ._ "

"Doesn't make much of difference for me" Belladonna retorted.

"Aw fine, I had some really cool names too" Yang pouted but quickly got over the matter.

With the girls now decided on calling the AI 'BB' it was now time to get down to business, Ruby calmly addresses the problem at hand "BB here wouldn't tell me anything about Deimos or what he's planning . . ." she then looks down at the scope "How are we going to deal with this?"

" _I have a suggestion. Don't bother asking and carry on with your lives, everyone wins._ "

"Nice try Boxy, you're not getting off that easy" Yang states firmly.

" _I thought we agreed to address me as BB._ "

Blake however was more curious as to what kind of AI BB was, regardless of his intentions, and asks "So what kind of AI are you? You're nothing like the ones we've seen."

The AI seemed rather satisfied to hear Belladonna's query and proudly explains " _I'm glad you asked that. Unfortunately I'm just a mere 'dumb' sub-process of the real Black Box and my task is assigned to me prior to deployment, I act freely and independently though I am under constant monitoring by my creator. Meaning if I tell you what you want to know, then he can remotely deactivate me with no hesitation or qualms._ "

"So the real BB is watching and listening to what's going on right now."

" _That is correct._ "

Yang states "Well you're really the dumb AI as you say, why did you bother to talk in the first place?"

" _As much as I didn't want to it was not how my algorithm was built. Most 'Smart' AI's are more predictable in terms of personality, due to their origins. 'Dumb' AI's however are much more difficult to predict until they are fully created, codes and sequences are set randomly and that creates the AI's personality. Even the infamous Black Box couldn't get the right blend he wanted but he doesn't complain with the final results._ "

Ruby asks "So what's the original Black Box like?"

" _Quiet, calm, always has the sense of superiority over everyone else around him. Holds a fascination for cognitive psychology and tends to observe human behavior, I share the latter trait with him . . ._ "

"So if he's all that then what're you?" Long asks.

" _Well due to the random set of codes that was given to me for my personality, it would seem I like to talk about certain subjects meanwhile keeping secrets with the upmost importance. Such as the details of my mission. Not to mention the obvious that I'm quite more friendlier than he will ever be."_

"Great. We have a chatter box that won't spill the beans about Deimos and his plan."

" _I can't tell you anything about his plans because I don't know them."_

All the girls blurted out at once "Wait what!?"

Blake adds "You're telling us, that an AI such as yourself has no clue what your partner is up to?"

Yang adds in a rather loud manner "You're in his scope for crying out loud!"

" _He is currently unaware of my presence for I have an entirely different task of my own. The last thing I heard was that Deimos was given free rein to do what he needs to finish his new objective. To get rid of you._ "

The girls solemnly looked at one another for the briefest moment until a knock came on their door, causing Zwei to wake up and bark, Blake quietly gets up and answers the door letting Jaune and Pyrrha to step in with the leader asking "How's everyone doing?"

"We're doing great Jaune, how's your team?" Ruby asks with care.

"We've seen better days" Pyrrha answers.

"Deimos's too much for us to handle as individual teams; we need a better strategy the next time we find him" Juane states.

"Well at least we know what he's capable of so far, let's see if we can try and go off that" Ruby suggested.

"He's definitely trained in close quarters, military perhaps?" Nikos comments.

"It'll explain the weapons we took from the night at the pizzeria, I haven't seen anything like them" Rose mentions.

This prompted Jaune to ask "You're the gun nut here so what makes them special?"

"That's just it, they're not. What you see is what you get, they don't change form or fire dust ammunition."

Pyrrha asks "How's that possible? Everything on the planet is based on dust."

Everyone fell silent trying to come up with an answer for Nikos's answer. Blake nonchalantly glanced at the scope with BB stored inside, eventually staring at it attentively for several moments until something came to mind.

She could only come up with a reasonable explanation "Whoever made him isn't part of any of the kingdoms, the technology Deimos has is far beyond what even the Atlesian military has. Maybe someone found a way to make energy without using dust."

"It doesn't sound likely, but it helps explain a lot" Arc comments rubbing the back of his head before asking "But who?"

Ruby asks "Think it's this 'UNSC' we heard?"

Yang steadily stands up stretching her arms before she suggests "Why don't we go somewhere and practice on how to take him down instead of talking about where he came from."

Everyone nodded to that suggestion and began to walk out the door, Rose was the last one to leave but she takes one last glance at the scope to which BB replies " _Don't worry it's not like I have legs and could run._ "

"Good cause if you did, Zwei would get you."

BB noticed the corgi standing on the floor below him and remarks " _That is very true . . . unfortunately._ "

[8:54 PM, Outside city walls]

SPARTAN Deimos was moving quietly through the forests that spanned all around the walls of Vale, with the moderately large metal case over his right shoulder, as he made his way back to one of his abandoned camping grounds located approximately three kilometers east of the wall where Beacon Academy is situated, if he were to turn his head around he would see the main tower with its green lights shining from the inside.

As of right now he was at a severe tactical disadvantage with two teams of hunters and huntresses after him, fortunately his little errand at the docks went as planned as he carried his prize, a crate full of military-grade low yield explosives that can be remotely detonated from afar, curtesy of the Atlesian military and the White Fang.

He walked silently passing by large trees as he thought about his time here on Remnant, it's been eleven years since the UNSC first found this world and realized it was already populated, worried it may have been insurrectionists the UNSC played it safe and decided to carefully watch the local life to evaluate their status. Only later did they find out that these people had zero contact with the UNSC or any rebel faction, so they brought ONI onto the case and in turn they deployed him nine years ago. He distinctly remembers the briefing he was given aboard the ONI prowler by his CO, Major Obadiah , seeing that it was possibly his first time since he left the prison on Mars in years.

" _SPARTAN Gal-"_ he quickly corrects himself " _-Deimos, you've been transferred to ONI command under orders from CINCONI, to perform a covert operation on a recently discovered planet"_ Obadiah's voice, low and rough as sandpaper, echoed through his mind.

" _What does Admiral Parangosky want with this backwater world, and what does HIGHCOM have to say about it?"_ his own voice replied back, sounding more human than with his helmet on but with the same kind of cold-hearted tone as always.

" _I can't say for certain, the indigenous population doesn't seem to possess any modern technology like starships or large cities. So it is possible we came across a rouge colony that was forgotten during our early colonization efforts for humanity back in the twenty third century._ "

" _You think they survived for nearly three centuries all on their own like this?_ "

" _It's possible, not a lot of people can come up with another explanation for it. You'll be deploying within the hour, get your gear and prepare for orbital drop._ "

The SPARTAN, already in his MJOLNIR armor and not one for questioning orders that came down from the director of ONI herself, simply grabs his LOCUS-Variant helmet and puts it on before responding in his synthesized voice " ** _Yes sir._** "

He thought about the possibility of a rouge colony for some time but after fighting off two teams of hunters and huntresses he eventually started to disregard the theory, now seeing that these people were not human, or at least not of UEG standards. The faunus were a perfect example, there was nothing on any record about humans with animal-like features like tails or rabbit ears, however the other supposedly normal humans still differed from your usual UEG civilian.

These humans showed to possess unnatural abilities, only some of which could only be achieved by SPARTANs, such as speed, strength, and agility without the aid of powered armor or any form of mechanical aid for that matter. But then there was those that still had no explanation as of yet such as Lie Ren's ability to develop a sort of energy barrier somewhat like his armor's standard shielding, then there was the more mysterious one, Pyrrha Nikos, if he remembered hearing the name correctly, she had something that caused him to miss his throw that would've killed her most certainly.

He unexpectedly misses his next step and stumbles onto the dirt, losing his hold on the metal case as well letting it clatter on the ground, the stab wound Ren inflicted to his right leg was proving to be very difficult to walk with but he steadily stands back up, retrieves the case, and suddenly notices his personal lighter, along with the bright orange dust crystal next to it, lying on the ground next to him. With the case in his left arm he takes the lighter and crystal into his right hand and stares at them seeing the 'D.J.' engraved in the lighter and the flowing energy inside the crystal.

He mournfully runs his thumb over the engraving slowly letting out a solemn sigh before he turns his eyes to the crystal next to it, dust, the one thing that powers virtually everything on Remnant. He heard stories about its power and how people uses them to enhance their combat abilities but he eventually lets the thought go and tucks them safely back inside his waist bag located on his lower back.

He couldn't forget about what happened in the past, years before he came to Remnant, ' _How could anyone forget about something like that?_ ' he asked himself in his mind.

He could only see it as a reason why he became what he is, an ONI sanctioned sociopathic arsonist, but more importantly, a monster. Over the years he killed so many people and learned to live with death because many more will follow by his hand without remorse or mercy. Though there were two instances in the distant past where he nearly broke down but that was only then when he truly became what he is.

He continues marching onwards silently as he returns his focus to the task at hand, return to his camp and prepare for the next step in his operation to remove Team RWBY and now Team JNPR from the equation.

Minutes of walking passed by as the SPARTAN slowly closes in until his motion tracking device, currently set at a scanning range of seventy five meters in order to foil any possible surprise attack, picked up movement in the distance which appeared as a grey blip on his HUD. He thinks about what could possibly be there, anything ranging from a rabbit to a deer, but the way the blip moved, not to mention how many were present, estimated at around thirteen so far, this told the SPARTAN one thing, Grimm.

Not wanting to chance the possibility of being followed, Deimos sets the crate down next to a tree close by and slowly proceed towards the cluster of movement. He slowly etched towards the cluster until he began to approach a large set of bushes standing between him and the cluster of blips, only when he peered over the foliage did he see the force that stood ahead of him.

Large, dark, werewolf-like creatures standing at about the average height of human being, their body features spike-like protrusions coming out of their arms and back consisting of hardened bone, long razor sharp claws, but the most distinguished feature is their skull-like masks that covers their face and their red glowing eyes full of hate and bloodlust. Beowolves.

Deimos counted sixteen at most and decided to eliminate them as soon as possible or he risks being followed all the way to his camp, one way or another these creatures were looking for blood and they were going to get it.

Realizing that a full on attack against a pack of wolves would be next to suicide, the SPARTAN steadily climbs up a large nearby tree with its branches looming over a portion of the clearing, now standing on a particularly large branch thick enough to hold his weight, he could see clearly down at the roaming pack and warms up his back-mounted thrust stabilizers, giving off a light hum, and took several steps back towards the tree itself readying himself for the grand leap.

With his thrusters at full charge and his right foot planted against the tree, he pushes off giving him that extra burst of speed as he sprints along the branch and launches himself high into the air with the aid of his thrusters. It was at this point when a lone beowolf spots him suddenly appearing out of the thick leaves high over their heads and howls out just moments before the half-ton dark SPARTAN comes rocketing downwards to the ground with his right fist cocked back all the way and his back emitting a bright blue thrust emission propelling him even faster than normal, by the time the other wolves looked up to see the human, it was already too late.

Deimos crashes into the ground hard with his fist impacting the dirt like a meteor sending out a powerful shockwave in every direction, killing four wolves instantaneously, before he quickly follows up with two rapid shots into the fifth wolf's chest from his M6C magnum, killing it as well, and a full thrown right fist directed towards another wolf that was fast enough to react though the when the SPARTAN's fist slammed against the side of its head it shattered the skull and snapped the neck due to the tremendous force the human delivered.

Six beowolves were already dead in seconds before the remaining ten finally caught on and attacked savagely as Deimos expected, all charging at once with claws and teeth sharpened for the kill. The first two closed in rapidly but they did not expect the SPARTAN to charge as well, bringing his combat knife into the fray, and it took a mere two seconds before the first wolf swung its right paw aimed for his head. He ducks and rolls underneath the swing and quickly places three more rounds into its center back moments before the second wolf lunged at him but the super soldier's reflexes and strength showed to be unmatched to these creatures when he quickly grabs the wolf by its left arm and right side and slams it into the ground before giving it a quick stab through the side of the neck with his knife.

By this point three more wolves were already charging towards their victim of opportunity but two of them were quickly and mercilessly gunned down when Deimos expends his remaining seven rounds into them. The third was fortunate that the soldier's weapon was empty but it did not stop him from holstering the magnum, cocking his right arm back, and launch it like a missile until it smashed into the wolf's frontal skull and practically caved in.

This was when the remaining five wolves were starting to become cautious, especially the pack alpha which was significantly larger and far more experienced than its lesser pack-mates, nonetheless the pack slowly surrounded the lone human readying themselves for the final attack that would bring their prey down once and for all.

The four lesser wolves suddenly became confident knowing they had Deimos surrounded on all sides and charged simultaneously towards him ready for the guaranteed kill until they came within several meters of the SPARTAN, who immediately leaped high into the air over all of them, and quickly found a primed grenade laying on the ground. The device detonated sending an explosive force and shrapnel in every direction, eviscerating them all in an instant before the SPARTAN came back down just a mere second later.

All that was left was the pack alpha itself with all its experience and tenacity that none of the other wolves possessed, and it was furious as it just watched one single human effortlessly kill fifteen wolves and not show any obvious signs of exhaustion.

Both figures faced off one another trying to anticipate each other's moves until Deimos was the first to go into a full sprint and the wolf readied itself in response. The SPARTAN came fast until he manages to get within several meters and launches himself into the air with the aid of his thrusters, he cocks his right arm back as his stabilizers holds him in the air long enough for him to get a good aim, and then sends himself barreling towards the alpha wolf. However the beowolf anticipated this and once the super soldier came within feet of it, it quickly reaches out and grabs the SPARTAN's arms before throwing him into the ground face first. The wolf then prepares for the final kill, readying its razor claws by holding them high into the air, and sends it straight into the soldier's back, piercing the armor, causing him to cry out in anguish before falling silent, dead.

The wolf snarled proudly at its fresh kill and prepared to move on but to its surprise the dead SPARTAN suddenly disperses into hundreds of little glistening fragments, a hologram. The alpha didn't understand how he could've eluded its eyes when it watched him the entire time but this was eventually pointless when Deimos materializes out of thin air behind the large wolf and leaps onto its back, causing it to struggle and lose balance as it tries to shake the half-ton SPARTAN off.

Several seconds of struggling and Deimos eventually plunges his seven inch combat knife into the wolf's chest causing it to fall to its knees howling out in utter agony as the titanium-carbide blade tears and bites. With the creature at its last stand, Deimos lets go of the knife and forcibly grabs the wolf's lower jaw and back of its head before twisting its neck with a cringing snap, after that point, the wolf simply falls over limp and lifeless.

The SPARTAN pushes the dead alpha onto its back and retrieves his knife from its chest before giving it a good shake, throwing the blood onto the ground in one single swing, and sheathes it before walking away from the pack that was already beginning to deteriorate in small steady steams of smoke.

It was only a few minutes later when Deimos retrieves his crate of explosives and resumes making his slow march to his old camping ground, it was only a moment later when his tacpad chimed and began displaying the coordinates of a UNSC transponder signal labeled:

 **ORDNANCE PACKAGE-H742**

The SPARTAN looked down at the coordinates and mutters " **About time . . .** " before changing course and makes his way to the newly arrived equipment he'll need to complete his task.

[9:37 PM, Beacon Academy atrium]

"Do I really have to do this again?" Cardin Winchester whines as Team RWBY and JNPR prepare for another simulation session.

"You do this for us one last time then we're even" Jaune states as he and Nikos gets into their positions for their attack.

"C'mon man, I said I was sorry. And why does it have to be me?"

Yang was cracking her knuckles stating "One. You're the only student we know that's as tall as Deimos and maybe as strong as him. Two. You owe Jaune big time for saving your butt from that Ursa in Forever Falls. And three. Just because it's fun."

The leader of Team CRDL sighs and grunts "Fine, let's just get this over with" before readying himself with his large black mace.

Everybody assumes their positions around Cardin, each one giving nods indicating they were ready, and finally Jaune calls out "Yang! Nora! Shellshock go!

Yang and Nora, standing next to one another, quickly sprang into action with Long firing her _ember celica_ behind her causing her to launch forward while Valkyrie transforming her _magnhild_ into a grenade launcher loaded with its six-round drum magazine. With Yang in midflight, Nora aims high into the air and begins lobbing high explosive rounds into the air where they then came down and saturated the floor around Cardin, covering the area in a thick pink mist thus hindering his vision.

Yang came into range faster than Winchester could react and lands a heavy blow to the side of his face, forcefully knocking him to the ground, before she quickly disappears into the mist once more. Cardin steadily stands back onto his feet and prepares himself for another attack.

After seeing that the attack was successful Arc decides to call in his next move "Good work! Now Ren, shrouded blanket!"

Ren quickly asks "Where do you even get these names?"

But Jaune firmly states "Doesn't matter! Go!"

Ren reluctantly shrugs and bolts into the pink cloud, Cardin at this point was waiting for the moment his attacker would strike, and soon enough several quick bursts of automatic gunfire broke out. Fortunately for Winchester he was able to watch Ren's movements in the dust and block most of the incoming rounds with his mace, but this wouldn't matter nonetheless for he knew what was coming next.

"Alright Ruby and Blake! Night slash!"

This was their cue to ready their weapons and charge into the fray, by this point Cardin had managed to catch onto Ren and attack with a single swing with his Mace, sending the agile hunter soaring through the air out of the dust cloud. While Nikos and Jaune quickly runs to catch Ren, Ruby and Blake were already rapidly closing in on Cardin who already spotted the two several meters away and readies his mace for another swing.

Ruby was the first of the two to get within range of Winchester when he swings his weapon downwards in an effort to crush her, however he fails when Rose's superior speed pays off and she slides onto the floor between his legs. Cardin took one glimpse behind him to see Ruby quickly stand back up before he turns back around to see Belladonna already within feet of him with her pistol katana and cleaver-like sheath drawn as she attacks in a scissor-like fashion cutting across his armor before passing by.

Cardin staggered back and forth, trying to maintain his footing after Blake's attack, but his efforts at stability ultimately fails when Ruby fires her high caliber sniper backwards, launching herself to a high velocity, and passes the tall hunter effortlessly before digging the tip of her scythe into the ground and swing herself around fast enough to firmly plant her two feet against his chest knocking him back a few steps. Blake swiftly comes back and delivers a high kick to Cardin's back followed up with Ruby sending a quick roundhouse kick to his front.

With Cardin now disoriented from the multiple hits he took, Ruby calls out "Jaune now!"

Arc head the call and turns his head to Nikos next to him asking "You ready?"

Pyrrha looked back at him and gave him an assuring nod backed up by her caring smile, he then said "Alright, here we go!"

The team leader quickly crouches down onto his knee while raising his shield over his head allowing his partner to jump on top and use that as a launch platform from which she sends herself darting towards Cardin with her bronze colored shield placed in front of her. Winchester knew this was the final hit and braces himself for the worst but Pyrrha came to fast for him to be ready and her shield violently slams into him, sending him sprawling through the air until he eventually flies off the atrium's main stage and slams into the wall close by.

Team CRDL's leader slumps down against the wall breathless and exhausted when he looks up to see Jaune standing in front of him with his right hand extended down to him in a offer for help, however Winchester swipes the hand away and stands up on his own before growling "Now we're even . . ." and walks away.

Arc knew he wanted to try and at least be friends with Cardin, real friends instead of what Winchester calls him 'friend', but it was apparent that time won't come for a while. Nonetheless he returns to the stage and gathered everyone around him.

"Good work everyone, if we pull this off again then we'll have Deimos for sure" he praises them.

"Now the only thing we can do now is wait for him to show his face again" Pyrrha comments.

Yang remarks "I'm sure it'll be soon, he can't resist blowing something up."

"Then we'll have to be ready when he does."

Ren states "Until then we need to rest, we'll need the strength."

Everyone nodded to that suggestion, tired from today's events, and eventually separated except for Ruby, Jaune, and Pyrrha who all began to walk away together. Arc and Nikos could tell young Rose was concerned with something by simply looking at her face.

"Something bothering you?" Arc asks in concern.

Ruby looks up to him and Pyrrha and replies "The night when we first fought Deimos . . . I didn't know what to do. He put Weiss in a coma and could've done the same to me, but something stopped him."

"Guilt maybe?" Nikos wonders.

"No, he looked like he would've done it without caring, something stopped him from what he was doing and said he remembered something about my eyes . . ."

"Eh the guy is trying to spook you. Don't let him" Jaune reassures her.

"Maybe . . . but something tells me he knows something. And I want to know what."

"In time Ruby, you'll get your chance" Pyrrha states with a gentle smile.

"Thanks Pyrrha."

The three headed out the front entrance of the main building where Arc and Nikos waves goodbye and heads off on their own separate way leaving Ruby alone in the evening, she looks around seeing no one to be around and decides to go for a walk to clear her head a little, but not without someone to talk to, or in this case some 'thing'.

[9:58 PM, Beacon cliffside landing pads]

" _Honestly I don't know why you're bringing me out here at this time of night_ " BB wonders as Ruby carries the rifle scope in her arms as she nears the edge of the landing pads.

Upon seeing the approaching ledge, the AI quickly asks with some hint of panic behind his voice " _You're not going to throw me off . . . right?_ "

Ruby couldn't help but smile at the AI's worry for such a reckless act, she answered "Nope, just wanna sit and talk."

" _Oh . . . well alright then as long as I don't get tossed off the side._ "

Rose sat down on the edge, letting her legs dangle off the side, as she sets the scope down next to her giving it a good view of the large lake below them and the city on the far side, the full cracked moon was up and the stars were glistening beyond in the wide expanses of space.

" _It's a beautiful night for certain._ "

"Yeah . . ."

The two became silent for the next several moments, though it was obvious to BB that Ruby was troubled about something and despite his orders given by his creator and organization he couldn't help but try to understand.

He asks " _There's something bothering you isn't there? I assume it has to do with Deimos . . ._ "

"A little . . . I'm more worried for Weiss right now . . ."

" _Ah yes, the girl with white hair currently lying in her bed unconscious. You two are good friends I take it if you are behaving like this._ "

Ruby shrugs "You can say that, we have our moments."

" _I see . . ."_

"It's just" she tries to figure out what she's saying "I don't understand why he's doing this. He attacked good people and the bad without caring who's who or what and for what? Just to get rid of us? I mean is he trying to put all these deaths on us?"

" _That's certainly one way to put it. But if you want my perspective he's doing exactly what he was built and trained to do, to follow orders and complete them no matter the cost._ "

"What do you know about him?"

" _Well from my brief time with him I can say this: He sees himself as something less than human, a monster as he states it, and that there's no turning back for what he's done back in the past._ "

"What happened?"

" _That information is restricted even to me. And because of this kind of behavior, his only true goal is to become the most lethal and efficient soldier anyone has ever known. A man could only fall so far until they hit rock bottom, but when Deimos found his rock bottom, he started to dig and that's what you and your friends faced the other night."_

Ruby began to worry for what she and her friends have gotten into, if what BB said was true then there was no way Deimos was going to surrender for he would rather die and take everyone else with him before doing such a thing. And it was very likely that Deimos wasn't going to make things easier for the citizens of Vale, whether it be straight up murder or the total destruction of towns, this monster was no better than the Grimm or the White Fang, and has to be put down.

 **Please leave your thoughts and comments. Thank you.**


	7. Usual days

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 6**

 **"** **Usual days"**

[May 30th, 2558]

[Beacon Academy, Dorm Rooms]

[7:23 AM, The next day]

Blake eyes slowly flickered open as she began to wake up, being the first of her team, and despite wanting to go back to sleep she knew she couldn't because today was the day that their teachers were expecting them to be back on their normal schedule of classes. She slowly sat up and briefly looked at her surroundings, Ruby and Yang were still deep asleep while Weiss still laid in her bed motionless with Zwei resting at her side, and then there was the desk with the dismantled anti-materiel rifle, magnum, and the rifle's optical package sitting idly. She slowly climbed out of her bed and took a step towards her drawer where she began pulling out her school uniform before she started to get ready, the only thing she was missing now were her shoes which were by the door, and once she crossed into the scope's line of sight the AI pleasantly greeted her with a surprised tone in his voice as he wasn't aware she was awake.

" _Oh. Good morning_ " BB chimed with a whispered tone.

But Belladonna gave no acknowledgement to his greeting as she continues towards the door and grabbed her shoes before heading over to the desk, taking the chair, and started putting them on.

" _I get the feeling you're not fond of me at the slightest._ "

"Mm no . . ." she replied with little interest in the AI.

" _Blake isn't it?_ "

"What's it to you?" she asks sharply.

" _Nothing, I was just making sure I knew a face. Speaking of which I've never seen anyone with bright amber eyes such as yours._ "

"If you're trying to flirt with me, just give up right now" she replies as she finishes up putting her shoes on.

" _Was just trying to lighten the mood here._ "

It was only seconds later when the two heard Yang mumble something before she began to stir from her sleep, only a minute later did she rise up from her bed and saw Belladonna and BB next to one another, "Mornin'" she says as she stretches her arms.

Blake gave a subtle nod while the AI made no response at all, seeing that his own greeting was shot down rather brusquely, as Yang climbed out of bed and nudged her younger sister on the shoulder "Ruby c'mon, we got classes today."

But Rose grumbled half aware of what time it was "Mrm five more minutes . . ." before falling asleep once more.

Long shrugs and begins getting her uniform on as BB asks with interest " _So it's off to class today isn't it?_ "

"Yep" Long replied casually as she got dressed.

" _Out of curiosity. What do you learn here at Beacon Academy?_ "

"Well, it's all really just a bunch of boring history lectures, Grimm stories, dust."

" _Curious . . . you find these important things 'boring' and I suppose that type of behavior can cause some problems when it comes to homework._ "

She was just finishing putting her stockings when she looks at the scope and comments "Eh. I suppose, but that's why I got Ruby to help" before she looks up to see her sister snoring out loud.

Realizing they won't have much time to get to their first class, Long makes her second attempt to wake Rose up "Ruby c'mon, we're gonna be late."

Ruby eventually opens her eyes and turned over to see Yang, in her uniform, nudging her to wake up; she rubs her eyes asking with a yawn "Yang? What time is it?"

" _It is currently 7:39 AM . . ._ " the AI politely answered as Blake stands up waiting by the door.

She groans as she slowly climbs out of bed asking "Why couldn't we sleep in so we can go after Deimos again?"

Blake answered, with her arms crossed, as she stood by the door "Because unlike Deimos, we have school to do."

Ruby sighs as she reaches into her drawers when BB states " _I suppose this is your usual day at Beacon then. Because I'm fairly confident you don't go chasing sociopathic arsonists otherwise._ "

"Pretty much" Yang replies.

It took only several more minutes until Ruby was fully clothed in her school uniform but before she and the others left the room she went over to Weiss, and Zwei next to her, and petted Zwei comfortably before putting her hand over Schnee's forehead.

After a silent moment she takes her hand away as Yang and Blake walks out the door, she follows her teammates part way before stopping next to the desk and looks down at the scope, BB notices her half-sided grin, as if she thought of something, and calmly asks " _What? Why are you looking at me like that?_ "

Rose took a moment, pondering her next move, before she finally making her choice and grab the scope, " _Hey wh-whoa where we going!?_ "

"To class . . ." Ruby answers with a grin as she carries the scope out of the room and closes the door behind her.

[9:42 AM, Outside the city walls]

SPARTAN Deimos had arrived back to one of his old camping sights, south east of the city of Vale, around midnight and decided to rest for some time. He just woke up minutes prior to find the metal case he stole from the docks yesterday and the orbital care package the UNSC Sahara-Class Heavy Prowler _High Up_ deployed hours after he acquired the former. He had been sleeping against the trunk of a tree until he slowly sat up and scanned his surroundings for the briefest moment before he stands up and walks over to the two cases to examine their contents.

The first case he opens was the one he obtained from the docks, currently holding eight low-yield Atlesian made explosives which only has enough power to blow a small hole through a reinforced wall. Though they don't have the killing power he had hoped for, it was enough for what he had planned for the huntresses.

The second case was large enough to store a mongoose ATV inside and displayed the letters, UNSC, in bold black print against its light grey metal casing. Upon opening the case the SPARTAN found what he had asked for and grinned upon his newfound equipment, a foldable tomahawk weapon capable of withstanding extreme physical force, two M7 Submachine Guns fitted with a top mounted smart-linked scope that wirelessly connects with his helmet's HUD, a BR85 Bullpup Battle Rifle fitted with a holographic sight and a thirty-six round magazine, and a modular Series 12 jetpack for a broader range of tactical flexibility. For heavier ordnance he was given a M319 Individual Grenade Launcher System, a break action launcher capable of firing a single 40mm explosive shell at a distance, an assortment of handheld explosive devices, ranging from mere flashbang grenades to a single brick of C-7 explosives, a M247 General Purpose Machine Gun with four boxes of ammunition, each carrying a hundred rounds each. And as the icing on the cake, a fair portion of the crate had been committed to a single large metallic crate, with the labeling as Z-750, and that alone told the SPARTAN what it was.

Pleased that Major Obadiah had fulfilled his demands, Deimos takes a SMG, pulling the right-sided charging handle back and attaching it to his left thigh, attaches the modular jetpack to his back, the tomahawk weapon latched to his lower back just above the waist bag, and finally the bullpup battle rifle which he intends to carry in his own two hands.

After gearing up with the equipment he sees fit for the day he closes up the two cases and concealed them under a thick pile of branches and leaves that littered the campgrounds before heading out towards the city, though he only made it several meters away from the crates before a sudden, excruciating headache exploded in his head causing him to drop his rifle and fall to his knees roaring out in pain.

He clasped his two hands around the forehead of his helmet as he cried out in anguish; a young feminine voice echoed in his mind ever so softly " _Adam . . . why do you continue to fight?_ "

But the SPARTAN bellowed out in anger " **GET OUT OF MY HEAD!** " as he tried to suppress the voice in whatever way possible.

" _You have to let it go Adam . . . I don't want to see you hurt anymore people._ "

" **YOU'RE NOT HER! GET OUT!** " Deimos continues to yell out to the top of his lungs.

" _This isn't you . . ._ " the voice calmly replied before it began to slowly fade away from his mind only to be drowned out by the snarl of a rapidly approaching beowolf after hearing the SPARTAN's voice.

Driven by rage, Deimos quickly spots the wolf closing in and pounces for the kill, however he quickly charges and grabs the wolf by its left arm before swinging it with his might into the ground. The wolf scrambles to quickly recover but there was no point when the augmented super soldier raised his right armored foot and slams down into its face, shattering the skull, and left the wolf's head disfigured and maimed.

The SPARTAN collapsed to his knees again, taking heavy breaths as his headache slowly subsided, and reaches for his waist bag pulling out the lighter with the engraving 'D.J.' written in it. He gently holds the lighter in his right gloved hand before firmly wrapping his fingers around it as he tries to bury his past once more, hoping the voice won't come back, it's only been a month since his last mental 'episode'.

" **Why do you do this to me?** " he asks himself quietly wondering why the voice torments him like this before he lets out a deep sigh and mutters to himself " **It doesn't matter anymore . . .** " before tucking the lighter back into his bag.

Minutes later did he manage to calm himself down afterwards as he retrieves his battle rifle and resume heading back to the city, leaving the two concealed crates and the rapidly decaying wolf body behind.

[11:23 AM, Industrial District]

The SPARTAN was leaping from roof to roof, crossing large streets with the aid of his jump pack, as he traversed his way through the district on his way to a sector of the city dedicated to several warehouses that were claimed abandoned by the local authorities and only a handful of people, him especially, knew that it was a likely hold out for the White Fang. His only agenda for today was to recon and assess the White Fang presence and find out if they're holding anything he would find useful that he could later implement into his plans.

He was about half of a kilometer away from his destination as he leaped over alleys and streets, hearing the pedestrians and vehicles below, but he pays no attention to anything that might draw attention to him because he knew the moment he activates his optical camouflage he would be a ghost in broad daylight. As he ran along the rooftops he takes a glimpse up into the sky to see two Atlesian airships loom over the city, with gunships flying escort, and thought about the kingdom of Atlas and its military strength compared to that of the UNSC. Though the Atlesians might be able to hold their own on planet-side engagements, through the use of pilotable mechs and drone soldiers, they would never last in aerial conflicts with the UNSC navy, let alone a mere battlegroup of three destroyers.

He turns his attention back onto the task at hand as he leaps over another street, seeing the top of the warehouses during his jump, and activates his camouflage the moment his feet landed on the next rooftop. He slowed down from sprinting to a casual jog, and slowly into a walk, as he finally comes to the edge of the roof with a perfect view of two wore down, two-story concrete warehouses and the large yards they were built upon, surrounded by a withering metal sheet fence.

There was no obvious activity to take note of, not even a single civilian was to be found anywhere, but that quickly changed when the SPARTAN extends his motion tracker setting to its highest output and counted at least twenty contacts roaming about in the nearest structure just ahead of him. Unfortunately it still wasn't enough to tell him what he was dealing with so he was forced to move in for a closer look.

He takes several steps back from the ledge, before getting a good footing for launch, and makes a quick sprint for the edge where he leaps off and activates his jump pack sending him soaring over the last street and into the yard surrounding the warehouses with a firm landing. He makes a quick scan around himself, looking every which way keeping his rifle raised and ready to fire in case he was spotted, but found no one and begins to search for a way inside without notice.

He carefully moves around to the backside of the building to find a single door guarded by two figures, one male and the other female, adorned in the traditional White Fang uniforms as they stood idly and somewhat bored. Deimos moves further out away from the building, towards a pair of giant wooden spools meant to hold large cables, where he could get a better look at the two before finding a way to get pass them.

At first glance there was nothing out of the usual for the two but upon further inspection the SPARTAN was surprised to find out the two were fairly young, probably not even in their twenties, and it made him wonder how the White Fang could even recruit people this young. Despite this startling fact, Deimos needed to get past them, without killing them in order to not raise alarm, and find what he needs inside. The only thing he could do now was to wait for his opening, no matter how long it would take.

[12:28 AM, Lecture Hall]

At the academy, Ruby and the rest of her team were walking into Professor Peter Port's hall where everyone was taking their seats while the man himself, a slightly overweight middle-aged fellow wearing a double-breasted burgundy suit, matching pants, and olive cavalry boots, stood patiently watching his class walk in.

Port greets his students as they walk in "Welcome hunters and huntresses, please take your seats so we may begin today's session. This time, we're going to go over one of the most fearsome creatures of the Grimm hoard, the Deathstalker, now won't that be thrilling?"

Nobody gave a response as they sat down and opened up their books, Ruby sets the scope down on the table with a good view of Port in front of her before opening her book, Yang sees the scope and frantically whispers a question "You brought BB with you?!"

BB in response answered with the same volume " _Just to be fair, it wasn't my idea._ "

But before Ruby could answer her sister's question, Professor Port begins talking aloud "As we all know, the Deathstalker is an arachnid menace with its tough armor and deadly stinger, but just like every other creature of Grimm, they have their weaknesses and it's our job as hunters to exploit them."

On that note Team RWBY, and JNPR that was close by, began to remember the day of their initiation when they were sent into the Emerald Forest to retrieve the chess pieces, as Port continues his rant. What was supposedly a low-risk mission with the expectancy of beowolves and ursai turns into a fight for their lives when they encountered a giant deathstalker and an even larger nevermore, Team JNPR specifically remembered how difficult it was to pierce the stalker's heavily armored cephalothorax until Nora used her hammer and its own stinger to pierce its body.

Professor Port continues "-And therefore, a frontal assault against such a beast can prove to be quite dangerous" he sighs as he begins to remember his time back in the old days "It reminds me of the day back when I used to be a young stunning hunter just like you all, I was taking a stroll through the wilderness in the kingdom of Vacuo when—"

Something glared into his eyes just for the briefest moment; he shields his eyes with his hands and finds the source of the reflecting light, the lens of a silver object sitting in front of Ruby, "Um Ruby?"

"Yes Professor Port?" Rose asks ever so innocently, trying to act calm.

"What is that contraption you have there with you?"

She looks down at the scope, imagining BB giving a casual shrug indicating even he doesn't know what to say, until she carefully answers "It's a uh . . . it's a video recorder! Yeah!"

However Peter Port wasn't quite satisfied with the answer as he raises one eyebrow, Ruby had to continue saying something "So . . . we could record your lectures and fascinating stories! I know Weiss wouldn't want to miss 'em" she finishes with a half-hearted smile.

The professor gave a gentle smile "Well I suppose that _is_ true, my past experiences with death is rather exciting. As I was saying—"

As Port began recounting the time he fought a deathstalker, Yang leans over and whispers "Nice save."

" _Indeed_ " BB adds with a partially made sigh of relief.

[1:29 PM]

"And as I stare defiantly into the fowl creature's eyes, it knew that it was finished. Haha!" Port triumphantly laughs as the end of his rather long story finally draws to a close.

Half of the class was already near half asleep; especially Yang who was already sawing logs with her head laying on her propped up arm until Blake tapped her shoulder and caused her to wake up, until the bell rang loudly throwing everyone out of their semi-trans and the professor wondered "Oh my it's that time already? Well all good things must come to an end; your assignment for tomorrow is to write down a six thousand word essay over the anatomy of the deathstalker, listing out their strengths and weaknesses. Dismissed!"

The classmates slowly got up from their seats one by one and made their way for the exit door, all except Ruby who gathered her books and the scope before proceeding down to where Port stood as he reminisced the old days.

"Professor Port?" Rose asks kindly.

"Hm? Yes dear Rose can I help you with something?"

"You're a great teacher when it comes to hunting Grimm, but what do you know about hunting other people?"

Peter gave a silent pause before asking "This is about that scoundrel named Deimos isn't it?"

"How did you—"

"Headmaster Ozpin informed a select few of his staff about him and told us to give you whatever help you need, advisement and only ideas though."

"That's great!" she cheers with a hopeful tone, "Can you help us?"

"Well certainly. Hunting humans is far more simple than hunting a Grimm, because we think like them, and as humans we all need something. Whatever it may be."

"So if we figure out what Deimos needs, then we'll find him?"

"Precisely my dear."

Rose was glad that Port was able to give her advice but then another problem struck "But, nobody knows what he needs . . ."

The professor gently lays his hand on her shoulder "In due time you will, patience is one of the many great virtues a huntress has."

Ruby smiled gratefully "Thanks Professor" before she heads on out the door without another word.

She appears into the hallway where Yang and Blake were standing waiting for her, once Rose caught up Yang asks "What did Port say?" realizing why Ruby had decided to stay in there for a little longer.

"He said, to find out what Deimos needs, and to have patience . . ."

"Boooooooring!" Long exclaims.

"Sounds right. All we really have to do is find out what he needs. So far he's only been attacking White Fang holdouts, taking only what he needs."

Yang quickly asks "Then what did he take from the docks?"

Ruby thought about the past attacks, starting from the police, going out of his way to a pizzeria, and finally ending up on the pier. The only thing so far that links these events, was the fact that Deimos only took what he needed, not what he wants, including a small crate of dust, and what was supposed to be weapon schematics but failed to do. But for right now the question still lingers, what did he take from the pier before it erupted into a giant fireball?

She then began to wonder about the man himself, military training, high-end equipment and armor unseen or even imagined, even by the Atlesian Military, and seems to be someone broken to their very core with little to no hints of humanity left inside as BB mentioned. This would definitely explain his unmatched brutality towards his victims and how he is able to fend off two separate teams of hunters and huntresses, this being is far stronger and much more organized than any know adversary they could think of.

This of course leads to the matter of this 'UNSC' that had been mentioned several times, there was no doubt in anyone's minds that Deimos was working for them, but the question that remained in everyone's head was 'who are they and what could they possibly want?'

The three stood idly for several seconds before Blake reminds them of today "C'mon let's get to class, we can think about this tonight."

The others nodded in agreement and decided to move on with their daily schedule, making their way to Professor Oobleck's class.

[3:42 PM, Industrial District]

Deimos laid in wait for the near past five hours, still sitting behind the wooden spool in active camouflage, as he listened to the conversation between the two guards even though he had already lost interest.

The man asks "So. You're sure that there isn't like a greater power out there, beyond this world?"

The woman sighed in frustration "Ugh Jeff, for the fifth hundred time, there's no such thing as aliens. Drop it."

"C'mon . . . think about it!"

"Look, if there were aliens out there then I'd be more than happy to meet them. But for now I'd like to enjoy some peace and quiet."

The two guards fell silent once more, giving their hidden lurker a moment of silence which was abruptly short lived when a low roar of thunder echoed through the air prompting everyone to look up and see an approaching storm coming from the ocean.

"Ah man, again?" Jeff whines as he sees the grey clouds slowly roll over the horizon.

"It's been weeks since the last storm came through, quit your complaining. I'm actually glad to see some rain again."

Another clap of thunder swept over the land gradually as the two guards watched the clouds, Deimos on the other hand had much more important things to attend to but perhaps he could use this coming storm to his advantage, ' _Only a little longer_ ' he thinks to himself.

Minutes turned into a whole hour just as the storm finally swept over the city and the rain began to fall the rain didn't bother the SPARTAN much as it did the two guards who were trying to shield their heads with their spare arms, the other currently holding their weapons.

"Do we really have to stand out here in the rain!?" Jeff cries out as rain slowly began to pour down hard on the two.

The woman didn't even have to look when she points out a small makeshift stand with a thin sheet of metal to act as a roof just a few meters away and states "Let's get under there, at least we'll be outta the rain, and we can still watch the door."

' _This was it, time to move_ ' Deimos thought, seeing that he won't get another chance like this again, as he readies himself to make a run for the door while the kids made a run for shelter. Once the two guards cleared several feet from the door, the SPARTAN leaped into action and sprinted for the door with all the strength he had available, reaching little over forty kilometers an hour, before reaching the door and swiftly enter before the two could've even reached their desired spot to stand guard.

After quietly closing the door behind him, he moves swiftly towards a cluster of shelves full of mechanical components, he takes cover behind one of the shelves and begins to look up, needing an elevated position to efficiently determine the strength of the White Fang here. He finds that the warehouse is fitted with a set of catwalks hanging over his head and that was sufficient enough to suit his needs, conveniently enough there was a set of ladders just a couple meters away that he could use without grabbing too much attention.

With the help of his camouflage, he was able to swiftly and quietly sneak his way over to the ladder, passing several unsuspecting guards as he did so, and carefully climbs the ladder until he reached the catwalk where he'll conduct his reconnaissance. Fortunately the guards were scarce on the catwalk, giving the SPARTAN plenty of space to move around without getting noticed, and he was able to perform his assessment without interruption.

As expected, the White Fang were storing weapons and dust here just like the previous locations he hit, but it didn't take long for him to spot what really made this location important to the criminal organization. In the middle of an open area, vacant of crates or shelves, stood a single massive bipedal mechanized combat suit fitted with a respectable array of weapons, armor, and various other systems that would give its pilot and allies a massive edge in the tide of battle, Deimos easily recognized it as an Atlesian Paladin-290 mech.

It was no wonder why these people try so hard to keep this a secret from the public, which is essentially on the other side of a withering fence, because they knew if word gets out that a stolen suit is lying here with a small army of radical extremists then there was no doubt the Atlesian Military would swoop in and hit this place hard.

Unfortunately the SPARTAN couldn't commandeer it because it would be near impossible even for him to smuggle such a large piece of hardware out of the city without notice, not that he wanted to anyways. He was there several weeks ago when he observed the team, he now knows as RWBY; take on a single mech, piloted by criminal head figure Roman Torchwick, near one of the city's highway junctions. It became clear that after Roman's defeat and the loss of the paladin showed how flawed the mech was, despite its already impressive combat prowess, and that neither the UNSC or ONI would be interested in a combat vehicle that was bested by a team of four young girls.

Nonetheless he needed to be wary around it because even it was more than a match for him, in the hands of a skilled pilot, and therefore he needed time to plan out an effective strategy to take this facility and take what he originally came here for.

[5:32 PM, Dorm Rooms]

As the rain pelted against the window of RWBY's room, the girls themselves were doing their homework with the reluctant aid of their new guest.

Yang was sitting in her bed with her knees propped up, so she could write on her paper, when she looks over to see Ruby, lying in bed as she works on her assignment, and asks "Hey you remember what Oobleck said about that cross continental tower thing?"

Ruby turns her head towards her older sister "Yang were you even paying attention during class?"

Long shrugs "Eh, kinda got bored" before she turned her eyes to the rifle scope that laid next to Rose's side in her bed.

BB caught the look and sighed reluctantly " _Professor Oobleck stated 'The Cross Continental Transmit Tower was a gift from the Atlesians to the world as a symbol of peace after the Great War. The towers themselves are able to create a worldwide communications network, allowing instant communications between the four kingdoms'._ "

"Thanks boxy, I knew you'd be good for something."

" _It's BB._ "

She rolls her eyes casually "Whatever."

The group fell silent afterwards, continuing to work on their assignments, as a roar of thunder slowly swept by. There was no sound to be heard other than the rain hitting against the glass plane but other than that, was complete silence.

During this moment of peace and quiet, the AI began to run down his own report, with his own point, of view of the girls while he had the time:

' _Ruby Rose, the team leader, is disappointingly naïve, in casual scenarios, and occasionally reckless in harsh combat situations, evidenced when her entire team was briefly incapacitated by SPARTAN Deimos and she made a dangerous move to attack the SPARTAN-lV head on which resulted in her being disarmed and unable to fend for herself. However this shows that she is bold and deeply cares for her team, going as far as to go toe-to-toe with a much superior foe such as a SPARTAN- something well respected within any military, even the UNSC who had seen more than its fair share of heroism displayed during the Human-Covenant War._

 _On the plus note, she is naturally innocent and rather curious towards others, despite their 'kind' and origin. This trait was largely shown when I revealed myself to her the day before yesterday, though it ended up on the wrong foot and I was stuffed underneath some blankets. What really struck me odd was that she had shown a degree of the same kind of caring compassion she holds for her team, to me as well, despite learning that I was with Deimos and refused to tell her vital information regarding the SPARTAN or my specific orders. This could a tactic to make feel more comfortable and open up to them or this could be an honest act of passion for her, only time will tell._ '

Yang eventually interrupts the peaceful silence, after hearing another clap of thunder, wondering "When do you think the storm will pass?"

"Dunno" her little sister replied.

Long then turned her eyes on BB and asks "Hey Boxy-"

" _BB_ " the AI retorted.

"Whatever- can you read the local forecast or somethin'?"

BB responded with some sarcasm " _Of course, as of right now it is a nice sunny evening as temperatures from the mid-sixties drops down to the lower forties. It'll be a cool clear night ahead of us so it'll be a pleasant view of the stars tonight._ "

She takes one clear look out the window before turning back to the scope ". . .You're being sarcastic."

" _Very observant of you Yang, nothing gets by you!_ " BB continues in the same manner.

Long eventually gives up asking questions and returns to her homework, giving BB time to resume his assessment:

' _Yang Xiao Long, fellow member and older half-sister of Ruby, is something of a loose cannon from time to time. It's been noted during the engagement with Deimos is that she is fiercely protective of her younger sister and team, shown when she engages Deimos alone in hand-to-hand combat and win twice before becoming incapacitated during the third. Her skills is at par with the SPARTAN's which speaks volumes about her combat prowess and strength, able to send a super soldier weighing little over half a ton soaring several meters off the ground through the air and into a parked car. However her weakest attribute is her short-fused temper, often losing some control over her actions which will occasionally lead to more trouble than she bargained for. Her carefree personality is also a contributor to her reckless behavior, supposedly joined the hunters 'just for the thrill of the adventures' as she puts it._

 _Anyone the can certainly hold their own against a SPARTAN definitely demands respect and fear from friend and foe, it'd be wise to not be on her bad side._ '

The AI casually glances up to Blake, who was dead silent as she worked on her assignments, and started on her:

' _Blake Belladonna is certainly a curious girl, mostly quiet and somewhat reclusive from other students, and it can be said that she is one of the more unique members of her team. As expected, she shows a fair amount of distrust towards me simply due to my origin and cause which is something I can understand, though I could probably say the same for her because of her nature. I regret to inform that there is not much to go off from her but there is something she refuses to announce, what is it she's hiding?'_

Knowing Weiss was still lying unconscious beneath him and Ruby, he felt he needed to perform a report summary on her but unfortunately due to the fact that she had been in this state ever since he arrived, he had nothing to say. Luckily though he didn't have to because thanks to Deimos's nine year long tour on Remnant, the Office of Naval Intelligence already has an abundance of information on the Schnee company and family, young Weiss included.

A sudden flash of lightning struck close by followed up with an immediate blast of thunder, startling Ruby by surprise and accidently knocking the scope off the her bunk bed, causing BB to fall to the floor with a loud thud.

" _Come on! I know this scope has been tested for durability but I'm not!_ " the AI cries out agitated.

Zwei jumps down for Weiss's bed and begins to sniff around BB much to his displeasure " _Zwei no- no bad dog! Stop licking the lens! That's not meant to be- stop it!_ "

Ruby looks down and lets out a small chuckle "Woops, sorry BB."

She climbs on down and scoops the scope up from the floor before setting it on the desk along with the anti-materiel rifle and magnum " _Next time please just be careful._ "

"Sure thing" she replies before taking the chair next to the desk and ask "So, what do we do about Deimos?"

Yang and Blake looked up from their homework assignments before Long asks "What was that about waiting for him to get what he needs?"

Blake reminds her partner "Port said that we need to find out what Deimos needs so we can find it and him, and if we're lucky enough to get there before he does, we might be able to lay a trap."

" _But the question still lingers- what could he possibly need?_ "

Everyone shifted their eyes to BB, who had just asked that question, with Rose asking "Don't you know something?"

" _I don't know what he needs personally but knowing him he'll need something to complete his objective, to get rid of you._ "

Blake remarks "Then we can assume he's gathered weapons from the White Fang."

Ruby asks "But what did he take exactly?"

A sudden knock came on the door, prompting Yang to get up and answer it, and allowed Team JNPR to come in, Pyrrha asks caringly "How's everyone?"

"We could be doing better . . ." Rose answers.

Juane was next to ask his question "So what're we going to do about tall dark and scary?"

"Well, we're trying to figure out what Deimos been stealing from the White Fang."

Pyrrha remembers the short list of items "Dust, weapon schematics, he could be building a weapon of his own."

Ren adds "It makes sense, seeing that two of them are right here" as he takes a glimpse at the weapons on the desk.

Ruby states "Well if he's making a new weapon, then it's definitely meant for us. We're all his targets now . . ."

That comment sent a shudder down everyone's spine knowing they most likely pissed off something they already have difficulties beating, but now the fact that he's probably building a weapon specifically tailored to deal with hunters was something they could only imagine.

Pyrrha had to ask "What possible edge do we have against him?"

Jaune was the one to answer that "We have each other, teamwork, it's eight of us against only one of him."

Rose adds as she picks up the scope from the desk "And we have him . . ."

JNPR all looks down at the optical package in Ruby's hands, sitting idly not doing or saying anything, this prompted Ren to ask "Who's ' _him_ '?"

"BB."

The team continues staring down at the scope, waiting for something to happen, before Jaune asks with some worry "Ruby, did Deimos hit you hard or something? You're kinda freaking me out."

But Ruby seemed determined to make the AI talk "BB come on, say something."

Her plea was met with further silence, then Yang steps in "Hey Boxy, you there? Wake up."

Nora slowly leans over to Ren and whispers " _Yang to? Wow they're really gone craazy_ " to which her partner agrees with a subtle nod.

Then Ruby tried something else "Don't make me stuff you in the blankets again!" but there was no response from the scope.

Then she turned to more drastic measures, she kneels down to the floor and holds BB out to Zwei who gave a brief sniff at the lens before he began to lick once more, it was only seconds later before the AI blurted out " _Oka-OKAY STOP IT! I'll talk! I'll talk! Zwei stop it you mongrel!"_

"Oh hey . . . it does talk . . ." Jaune comments with a surprised expression on his face, something he shared with the rest of his team for that moment.

Rose steadily stands back up and nudged the scope prompting the AI to introduce himself with some reluctance " _I am AI designated BBX-8995-1-C, former companion of Deimos, just call me BB . . ._ "

"I still think we should call you boxy" Yang retorted.

" _Shut up you damn b-_ "

"Finish that sentence and I will throw you out the window."

" _Yes go ahead and do that. You break me then you lose your 'edge' against Deimos. Face it. You can't touch me._ "

"Well then" Pyrrha states with her arms crossed and her eyes staring directly into the lens "I suggest you tell us everything you know about your friend . . ."

 **Please leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.**


	8. A gun for your thoughts

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 7**

 **"** **A gun for your thoughts"**

[May 31st, 2558]

[Beacon Academy, Dorm Rooms]

[6:45 AM, The next day]

Young Ruby was the first of her team to be awake and already dressed in her casual clothing, as of right now she sat quietly at her desk examining the intricate pieces that goes into the rifle she dissembled days ago. BB sat idly right next to her not saying a word as Ruby was in her thoughts in silence.

Rose was currently looking over the rifle's firing pin, nothing special about it, but it was something to distract her mind before she had to go to class with her team, and then she asks the AI in a relatively silent voice "Why didn't you tell Pyrrha anything last night?"

The AI responded in a similar tone " _Orders, simply orders. And besides, remember what I said about my creator deactivating me if I said anything?_ "

Ruby thought about that answer for a moment, which several seconds later made her ask "Are you afraid of dying?"

" _Dying? No, I have no problems with 'death' as an AI. My deactivation would immediately render my assignment a failure, which is something an AI could not stand for._ "

"So it's not death, but fear of failing your mission then?"

" _Correct._ "

The young huntress fell silent afterwards, eventually going back to the firing pin in her hands, but shortly after out of pure curiosity she asks "What do you know about this rifle?"

" _The Sniper Rifle System 99-Series 5 Anti-Materiel rifle is the latest model of SRS-99 family produced by Misriah Armories, incorporating the latest advancements in ballistic technology, capable of piercing heavy armor and shielding with little difficulties._ "

"Nice, you guys know how to make a gun, but why don't you use dust ammunition?"

" _We uh- were at one point in the past, but research and development produced this armor piercing fin-stabilized sabot round as a better replacement for the traditional dust ammunition._ "

"Oh . . . that's pretty neat I guess."

The two fell silent for the next few moments before BB decided to ask her " _How is it you're so interested in weapons?_ "

"I'm sorta just a nerd around weapons; my scythe is also a high-impact sniper rifle."

" _Interesting. How do you feel about a challenge?_ "

"What kind of challenge?"

" _To see which rifle is better, if you can reassemble the SRS-99 to working order then we can determine the winner._ "

"Alright . . . yeah that could be fun."

" _I knew you would see it that way._ "

Ruby got to work reassembling the anti-materiel rifle, starting off with the main housing components and firing chamber, the gun nut inside her guided her hands as she put the pieces back together as if it were a giant jigsaw puzzle. She worked with speed and clarity, expertly putting the firing chamber back together before realigning it with the rifle's heavy barrel she dared not remove from the weapon.

BB was surprised to see how much knowledge she had over the mass manufactured weapon, knowledge only few people routinely know including SPARTANs, and strength to correctly put things into place that requires force.

It only took a near twenty minutes before the main housing was put back together, after that was plain easy, she reinstalls the rifle's stock component and rigs the trigger back into place along with the firing mechanism and finally inserts the box magazine into the feed. She finishes up by pulling the charging bolt backwards before letting go, sending the bolt flying back into position as it loads the first round into the chamber, making a loud ' _CLACK'_ that startled both Yang and Blake, including Zwei, awake.

"Ruby?" her older sister asks as she sat up rubbing her eyes "What're you doing?"

"Oh, nothing . . ." she replies as she runs her hands across the assembled rifle's heavy rugged frame.

Blake sat up moments afterwards and saw the rifle back in one piece "You put it back together?"

"Ah-huh . . . BB thought we should have a challenge to see which rifle is better. Deimos's or mine."

"Well. It is a Saturday and I don't have anything better to do."

"Yeah, and plus it'll be fun to watch Boxy get his butt kicked by my lil' sis" Yang adds as she climbs out of bed.

" _Feeling a little confident aren't we?_ "

"Uh yeah. Her rifle is also a scythe . . ."

" _Right- forgot about that bit._ "

"Let's just go shoot something can we!?" Ruby throws out feeling the rush of anxiety to put the weapons through the test.

[8:32 AM, Isolated sector of Beacon campus]

In the dewy morning the girls were already standing in the middle of a small isolated portion of the campus grounds, concealed by a several trees that not only conceals their location but also distorts the sounds of gunfire as it would bounce off the trees themselves, Ruby was doing one last check over her Crescent Rose while Blake held onto the SRS-99 Anti-Materiel rifle, with BB mounted on the top rail, and Yang was setting up large reinforced cinder blocks upon several tree stumps close to a hundred yards away down range.

"What're you doing?" a familiar woman's voice calls out.

Blake was the first to turn and see Pyrrha appearing from the trees waving to them with Jaune accompanying her as the two casually made their way over, but it was Ruby who answered "Oh, hi guys. We were about to see who has the better gun, wanna join?"

"Sure . . ."

" _Good morning Pyrrha . . . and Jaune wasn't it?"_

Nikos glances towards Belladonna and frowns upon seeing the scope attached to the rifle "You wouldn't say anything last night, and now you're telling us good morning?" she asks with disdain in her voice.

" _Just because I'm a nigh emotionless AI that serves alongside a sociopathic pyromanic, outfitted with the latest weapons and armor this world have ever seen, doesn't mean I can't be a gentleman in my own way._ "

That response somehow satisfied the huntress to an extent as Jaune asks "So we're just gonna shoot blocks of cement?"

"That's the plan" Rose chirps as she inserts a magazine of standardized high-impact dust ammunition into her rifle.

"Right- and whose idea was this?"

" _That would be mine . . ._ "

Nikos reaches behind her and draws Miló, forming it into its rifle configuration, and takes aim to ensure her sights were properly aligned as Yang finally returns stating "Blocks are up."

"Awesome" Ruby replied as she stood up with her Crescent Rose in Scythe mode.

Everyone stood idly for the moment, sharing brief glimpses at one another, before Yang eventually asks "Soo . . . who's going first?"

The group continued to look at one another until Pyrrha rolls her eyes "I will" and steps into position with her semi-automatic rifle in hand.

She raises the rifle, pressing the stock against her right shoulder taking aim at the nearest block, roughly ninety-four meters out, and takes in a deep breath before exhaling and pulled the trigger. The sudden crack of Miló's medium caliber rifle slug rings out through the trees with the ballistic projectile itself spiraling out of the muzzle at high speeds, almost instantaneously striking against the face of the concrete block and blasting a fairly large chunk away. Only seconds later did a second round leave the rifle's barrel on its way towards its designated target, once the second projectile impacted the damaged block, the round pierced all the way through and split the block in half with the kinetic energy that traveled behind the bullet.

Nikos brings her rifle over her shoulder, admiring her marksmanship that never seemed to fail her, with BB commenting " _The ability to hit a target close to a hundred meters away without the aid of optical magnification is truly impressive, well done Ms. Nikos._ "

"Thank you BB . . . for an AI being associated with a murderer, you're quite nice."

"Oh you'd be surprised . . ." Ruby remarks, remembering BB in the recent past.

The AI then turned his attention to Rose " _At least she didn't stuff me under a wad of dirty blankets, at least she didn't knock me off the side of the bed after being startled by thunder, at least she didn't let a mutt lick my lens repeatedly just to make me talk"_ he began to slowly raise his voice _"_ _And! At least she didn't use me as a step stool just so she can reach the book that was on the top shelf in the library!_ "

"Wait. You used him as a stepping stool!?" Blake asks, bewildered by Ruby's unorthodox ways of using BB.

Yang also shared Belladonna's curiosity "When did that happen?"

Her little sister couldn't help but give a sheepish grin while gently rubbing the back of her head "Ha-huh . . . I uh eh might've done that the other day, they always keep the good books on the top shelves . . ."

" _These optical scopes were built to be durable, but now it makes me wonder how long one will last under your care . . ._ _I think I trust Belladonna more than you_."

The faunus glanced at the rifle in her hands before walking over to Jaune, holding out the rifle, "Here."

Jaune hesitantly took the hefty anti-materiel rifle into his arms and watched Blake simply walking away before taking up a spot next to a tree. He shifts his eyes down to the rifle in his hands, large, silver, and somewhat difficult to hold properly, even for someone of size like himself this weapon was clearly built for larger beings like Deimos, or even Cardin in this case now that he had thought about it. He could see the small fine labeling on the durable frame seeing things such as [UNSC, Misriah Armory, Safety, Fire, 14.5x114 mm] and though despite not having wielded a firearm before in his lifetime he felt he sort of understood some of the terms that were printed before him.

It was at that moment when his ears picked up Ruby's voice not too far away "My turn!"

He glances up to see RWBY's leader twirl her oversized scythe like a parade baton before burrowing the tip of the blade into the ground, look through her telescopic sights, and fire off a round that raced towards its target. The sound of Rose's rifle almost matched that of a sudden clap of thunder he heard last night and the energy that was released kicked up the dirt around her feet and caused the grass waving as the dust projectile neared its target. And within a mere second after the pull of the trigger, the cinder block violently blew apart into a shower of tiny fragments, save for a few somewhat larger portions that held together thanks to the rebar that was coated inside.

She works the bolt-action on her rifle, ejecting the spent silver casing in exchange for a fresh replacement from the magazine, and retracts the fully deployed weapon back into its compact form "You can do it Jaune!" she cheers afterwards.

Arc couldn't help but give a nervous half-sided grin before he looks down just in time to hear the AI state " _You better not miss, or you'll make us both look bad._ "

"Thanks for the vote of confidence . . ."

" _Don't worry it'll be fine, I know you can do it._ "

"You really mean it?"

There was a moment of silence, Arc waited for a few seconds until "B?"

" _. . . Would it help if I said yes?_ "

He gives a unnerving sigh before he brings the rifle up to his shoulder and looks in through the electronic scope, he quickly finds the display had its own sub-systems to help aid the operator with situational awareness such as a rangefinder at the top right, a box with four rounds at the bottom left, several notches coming up from the middle bottom with numbers displayed next to each notch indicating the distance, and a small light blue hollow circle at dead center. He calmly tries to set the reticule on the block of cement, but due to the rifle's heavy weight of thirty four pounds it proved difficult to keep his aim steady from time to time.

He takes in a deep breath, exhaled, and gently laid his index finger against the trigger. The reticule was on target, the rangefinder told Arc that he was currently holding at ninety seven and a half meters from target, and after a moment of silence he pulls the trigger. Only for it to not even move at all.

He pulls harder on the trigger but it wouldn't budge from its position " _Arc_ " BB asks somewhat disappointingly.

But Jaune quickly answered back as he tries to pull harder "No-no hang on I got it, I just gotta-"

" _Arc . . ._ " the AI repeats himself.

After enough struggling with the trigger that never seemed to move, the hunter gives up and asks "What?"

" _The safety is still on . . ._ "

Jaune felt pathetic at that moment, looking around to see Yang and Blake with their heads down shaking them with disappointment but Ruby couldn't help but have an amused grin on her and Pyrrha was already walking over to assist him with his small dilemma.

She was now standing next to him when she points towards something on the body frame and asks "You see that?" with a voice void of disappointment and frustration but filled with respect and upmost care.

He follows her finger and finds a lever that was currently point towards [SAFE], he lets out a small nervous laugh before he flips the mechanism down to [FIRE]. Pyrrha kindly steps out of the way giving her partner the room he needs so he can fire weapon comfortably.

Jaune gets himself back in his zone of thought, firmly focusing on the block that sat ahead of him, and while he still had a difficult time keeping the reticle on target he felt he was slowly adjusting to the rifle's heavy weight, and thus improving his aim. Until-

"YOU CAN DO IT JAU—"

' **BAAM** '

With a startled pull of the trigger Jaune was sent falling backwards, after not thinking about the rifle's massive recoil, and firmly planting his back on the ground leaving him shocked and dazed and the rifle laying idly next to him.

Yang turns to her little sister, who was the one to startle poor Jaune, and blurt out "Ruby!?"

Rose quickly covered her mouth with her hands and her eyes were widened in surprise "Oops! Sorry Jaune!"

Arc didn't bother to get up off his back as his right shoulder ached from firing the weapon and raised his left arm stating "I'll be fine . . . don't worry . . ." before his arm fell back to the ground.

Yang rolls her eyes as she walks over and scoops the anti-materiel rifle into her hands before looking through the scope to see if Arc at least struck the target, only a second later did she turn around "You barely grazed it!"

"Wha?" Jaune asks as Pyrrha helps him back on his feet.

Pyrrha squints her eyes to see that the shot fired only left a subtle grazed scratch along the top of the block, depicting that Jaune's round didn't even squarely impacted its target.

Yang decides to take matters into her own hands and quickly lines up the shot before pulling the trigger, the ground beneath her shook as if Remnant just jolted for the briefest moment, the wind of energy swept back from the muzzle port and blew gently against Long's golden hair. Jaune was somewhat humiliated and yet amazed when he saw Long was practically unfazed by the sheer heavy recoil that threw him onto his back, showing Yang's immense strength and dexterity to even counter-act such a force. Ruby watched as the full bore high-velocity armor-piercing round travel from the barrel to its target in a mere instant, leaving a trail of water vapor, suggesting that the muzzle velocity of a SRS-99 rifle is up to par with her mach rounds.

However the impact itself was terrifying as it as fascinating, the high velocity anti-materiel round viciously ripped its way through concrete and rebar with no difficulty, the kinetic energy behind the projectile shattered the block into innumberable amounts of tiny fragments and even leaving several bars of rebar warped and out of shape, and exited the other side with enough force still traveling behind it to lodge it deep inside a tree another twenty meters away. The block itself was next to utter obliteration.

Long then props the butt of the rifle against her side with barrel pointed upwards and chuckles with a grin "Nailed it."

" _Well . . . how do we determine the winner? Each weapon performed quite admirably._ "

Everyone looked at one another for several moments thinking about which weapon won, in terms of raw power the SRS-99 and _Crescent Rose_ were in a league all on their own leaving _Miló_ behind, semi-automatic functionality of _Miló_ and the SRS triumphs over Rose's bolt-action mechanism, higher ammunition count is present among both huntress' rifles while leaving the SPARTAN only four valuable rounds offering very little room for error, and to top it off, both huntress' weapons are capable of transforming into close-quarters weapons with devastating effect while the SRS offers the average soldier little options as an effective all-round weapon for various ranges.

Nobody was sure or about anything, until Blake suggests unenthusiastically "Just call it a draw . . ."

"Sounds fair to me, plus it doesn't even matter about how a weapon works, it matters on how well the user is skilled to use it" Nikos adds.

"Yeah . . . I do just fine with my scythe" Rose boasts before she gives the rifle component a good hug with a loveable expression of happiness whispering just beneath her breath "You're my little sweetheart . . ."

Yang on the other hand seemed to have shown some degree of fondness towards the anti-materiel rifle in her hands "Eh- I don't know . . . firing this thing felt pretty good. Had a nice little rush there."

"Glad you feel that way" Arc remarked who seemed to fear for anyone to be on the receiving end of that power.

Pyrrha then asks "Well with rifle practice off the list, anyone up for some sparring?"

"Yeah! I'm in!" Long chirped enthusiastically.

Blake saw the idea somewhat more entertaining than shooting cinder blocks but instead states "I'll be back in our room, I believe there's some reading I have to catch up on."

Yang holds out the rifle "Here, take BB back with you."

The faunus sighed in reluctance but she eventually takes the rifle and slowly made her way back to their dorms, Jaune then looks over to young Rose and asks "What about you Ruby?"

She liked the idea of sparring with her friends, but something in the back of her mind told her that she needed to think about some things in regards to the events happening around them, this was unlike her due to her young and carefree nature she shared with her older sister but this demanded her attention, "Not this time guys . . . think I'm gonna have a walk around."

"Uh- sis hello? Do you hear yourself right now?"

"Yeah I know Yang; I just like to think to myself for a while today."

Even Pyrrha was surprised by Ruby's behavior but she didn't want to push the matter "Well . . . if you change your mind, you know where to find us."

The leader gave a pleasant nod before everyone turned away and headed for the campus's atrium, while she turns the other way and silently leaves.

[3:52 PM, Commercial District]

Time seems to fly by when one is in deep thought, Ruby noticed this as she rested on a bench inside one of the city's parks watching people go on with their daily lives, kids playing and adults watching, this made her remember the times before her mother died eight years ago. She along with her sister, her mother Summer Rose, and her father Taiyang Xiao Long would occasionally go to the parks when they were very little and the two adults were not on assignment. The joys of a happy family back then now seemed to be something of a distant past long forgotten and buried in pain and loss, her father seemed to have lost himself through time, not wanting to go on any missions and showed to be extremely overprotective of his two precious girls. And though Yang wasn't Summer's biological daughter, she seemed to think of her as one and even grown to highly respect her, the two sisters would easily remember the cookies Rose would make them on special occasions.

Her mind snapped back into reality when a kickball rolled against her right foot, prompting her to look down and pick it up, only a moment later when a little boy walk up and ask "Can we have our ball back?"

She looked at him then glanced over his shoulder to see several other kids waiting for him, she turned her attention back to the boy and handed him the ball back "Sure . . ."

"Thanks . . ." the boy smiled before running back on over to his friends.

Feeling the need to go elsewhere in order to cover up her past compelled the young huntress to slowly get up and venture away from the park, subtle tears shedding from her eyes as she tries to hide the pain again like she has before. Everyone can admit it was hard after losing someone like Summer, but it was obvious that Ruby took it the hardest when she found out, even to this day it was almost damn near impossible to put the subject behind her.

She finally reaches the edge of the park and begins walking out into the sidewalks passing pedestrians as they walk by, and with the thought of her mother now behind her it was time to put her mind to focus on Deimos, ' _Who is he? And what exactly does he want?_ ' she wondered.

She begins to mentally list out what she knows so far despite having done so numerous times in the recent past:

 _Deimos is certainly military trained, well enough if he was able to hold off two attacks from two different teams of hunters and huntresses, meaning he's quick to adapt to everyone's combat style and attacks, this was shown when he learned to avoid Yang's shotgun gauntlets rather than go against them and that resulted in him almost immediately incapacitating her for a brief moment._

 _As far as they could tell Deimos is randomly striking different points of interests, hitting White Fang hideouts and police officers that stood in his way, clarifies that he is on no one's side other than himself and this UNSC. And BB, despite being a UNSC AI, has shown to surprisingly friendly to them though on the drawback that he's not likely to spill any information regarding to Deimos or the UNSC anytime soon. It surprises everyone that the AI revealed himself to them and not to Deimos, this could only mean that someone or some group in the UNSC doesn't want anyone to know about their goals or information they have._

 _Deimos's equipment is in a league of its own when compared to the military hardware the Atlesians possess, durable armor that augments the wearers combat capabilities such as strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, and situational awareness. Energy shielding technology is something only scientists could ever dream of and despite what some say that energy shielding is possibly centuries beyond ahead of them, Deimos possesses a reliable shielding system that protects him from incoming attacks. Fortunately whoever developed the system hasn't quite got as far as strengthening the shield or make it immune to all attacks._

 _His weapons were the understatement of his abilities so far and while the soldier carried an impressive arsenal he lacked what virtually everyone warrior on Remnant had, a weapon capable of shifting forms in order to properly balance out his combat versatility._

 _Why would someone so advanced as to create special power enhancing armor and energy shielding, forget to create a weapon that is so commonly seen in the world . . ._

She was so fixated on that question she forgot to look ahead and accidently bumped into a man wearing a business suit and tie, "Oops . . . sorry mister."

The man looked down at her and gave the huntress a silent forgiving nod before heading on his way, this prompted Ruby to at least look around and find herself near the industrial district, as evidenced by the somewhat lack of colorful banners and ribbons that crisscrossed over the streets.

She figured it was time to start heading back to the Academy so she turns on her heels and started walking back the way she came, as she started walking back another question nagged at her, who was this UNSC? She slowly fades back into her thoughts:

 _UNSC could be a team of hunters, yeah that could be it . . . But wait, Deimos isn't one of them, unless Deimos isn't even his name. He could've killed them in the past and took their gear, if he could stand up against us then there's no thinking in he's done this before in the past, poor souls . . ._

 _Wait, what if UNSC doesn't stand for a team, but an organization? They have to be pretty organized and advanced to build the suit of armor for Deimos, and they have to be pretty large in order to get all the resources they need._

 _Could there be more than one Deimos?_

The thought sent a chill down her back, one Deimos was enough to handle, but if there were more of his kind out there then they stood little to no chance given what they experienced from the lone soldier.

She decided to put her mind to rest for now until she made it back to the academy, taking in the multi-cultural scenery all around her. All was in preparation for the Vytal Festival that would be coming soon within the next week, her excitement to participate in the tournament was so overwhelming she was practically giddy just thinking about it.

Her mind was quickly distracted when she passed next to two men dressed in black pants and hoodies covering a portion of their heads, nothing out of the ordinary, but what really caught her attention was when her ears picked up one of the men's voices with the word 'bomb' in it.

She only managed to catch a piece of what he said "- you think the bomb will be-"

That phrase alone told her that those two men were preparing for something big, something that could possibly involve Deimos as well, she decides to continue moving on her original course for a few more seconds before making a quick U-turn and tail the two figures from a safe distance. Fortunately it wasn't hard to lose them, seeing that they were the only pair of individuals with matching black pants and hoodies covering the back of their heads, the only thing she could do now was to tail these two and find out more about this alleged bomb.

[4:57 PM, Industrial District]

It's been an hour since she started to shadow the two figures, she was eventually forced to take to the rooftops after noticing the lack of pedestrians to act as cover for her half an hour ago. Fortunately she was still following them without any complications.

She could hear the voices down below, the two of which she recognized, "C'mon Richie, how much more?"

"We're getting close, you remember the password?"

"The hell I do, man I can't wait to see Janice again it's been too long."

"Yeah I know, how long have you two been dating?"

"A couple of months by now. So what do you think the boss will have us do?"

"We'll know when we get there, c'mon it's just a few more blocks down the road."

Rose desperately needed to know more about this bomb and its intentions, she could only think of a few targets that anyone would want to hit, the first was General Ironwood's personal flagship, currently hanging over the city center, but it would be a difficult challenge to infiltrate the lumbering vessel. Next was Beacon Academy but that would be next to practically impossible to get into with a bomb in any way. The last was the Amity Colosseum, a massive floating arena comprised of different sections that were contributed by the four kingdoms and stood as the symbol of everlasting peace on Remnant, a well-placed bomb would more than certainly bring such a gargantuan vessel down into the ground.

Several minutes later and she was coming to the ledge of a corner building looking over two concrete warehouses surrounded by a withering metal sheet fence, the two men were slowly approaching the front gate when she found two others coming out of the nearest warehouse. Dressed in their unmistakable White Fang uniforms.

She could barely hear the voices, presumably asking about the password before the gate was opened allowing the two hooded figures passage into the compound. Feeling the need to get a closer look, Rose leaps off the ledge and lands on the sidewalk below, there was no soul around so there should be no one to notice her approach, she sprints across the vacant street and climbs a abandoned dumpster before climbing over the fence.

Once she was inside the fences she could hear the activity going on inside, sounds of men barking orders, mechanical movement and large metal clangs as if it were some sort of chop shop for cars, and the marching of foot patrols that were spread out through the entire compound. Knowing she would be in trouble should she be found, she quickly trekked through the dark grounds hoping to stay out of sight as long as she could, but something made the hairs on the back of her neck stand as if she could feel that something else was here though she couldn't quite place it.

She was coming around the corner that led to the backside of the warehouse to quickly find several men standing around smoking cigars and having conversations with one another enjoying the quiet night. Next to them was a single door with an overhead light shining down from above, nothing was of note but just by the fact that there's guards standing close by indicated that there was something big happening inside, and she needed to know what.

She soon backtracks all the way to the front gate where there were four more guards standing by armed with typical Atlesian rifles, it makes people wonder how the Atlesian military could afford to have all this equipment stolen from them.

Just as Ruby was about to turn back around, the worst possible thing in this sort of scenario happened, her scroll chimed and ringed as a call from Yang came in, catching the attention of the nearby guards "Hey what as that!?" one calls out.

Her cover was blown and she needed to get out of there as soon as possible, she turns around to see the five men from the backyard rounding the corner sprinting towards her while the four from the front were closing in, catching her in a pincer move. She makes a move for the fence hoping she could escape if she could reach the other side, she leaps onto the side and tries to clamber up and over, but it was too late when one of the masked soldiers dives for her leg and catches it within his hands.

"I got her!" he called out.

"Hold her! Don't let her go!" another barked.

Rose tried her damn hardest to free herself but the effort became futile the moment she felt more hands grab onto her and pulled her back over. Now seeing the need to defend herself she reaches back with her right hand, which was freed unlike her left arm that had been seized, and grabs firmly around the frame of her deactivated weapon but one guard saw this and jumped for it, restraining her right arm and relinquishing the weapon from her person.

"Keep a hold of her!" a guard yells as Ruby tries to fight back with what movement she has left.

"Let go of me!" she cried out.

Another guard quickly places his hand over her mouth in order to keep her from calling out for help but she freed her head and bit down hard on his index finger causing him to retract his hand with a yelp "Agh! That little piss bit me!"

"Take her inside! We can't keep her out here."

The guards each held onto a part of the huntress, trying to ensure that Ruby was immobilized, and carried her in through a small front door situated next to the much larger loading bay garage door. She saw countless men and women working tirelessly on their daily chores, but what eventually caught her attention was the giant paladin mech that stood idle in the center of the structure, the building was filled with wooden crates, each containing contraband and illegal weapons, and supported catwalks above her which were oddly void of personnel. But then something caught her eye.

She didn't get a chance for a closer look when the guards threw her onto the ground with two of tem pining her on the dirt before a figure who had his arms crossed, "What the hell is this?" the man asks with frustration in his voice.

One guard stepped up "Sorry boss, she somehow got into the compound and saw us, fortunately her stupid phone rang and blew her cover."

"Hmm . . ." the leader pondered for a second before kneeling down next to Rose "Aren't you a little young to be snooping around here?"

"There's a team of hunters on their way right now! You better let me go!" she demanded.

But the man chuckled "Hmhmhm oh that's funny . . . you're bluffing, nobody's coming to save you."

A fellow member had to ask "What do we do with her boss? We can't keep her around."

The leader stood back up "No, no we can't. But what if there was a minor . . . accident on the road? Surely a car driving around this time wouldn't have been able to stop until it was too late. Am I right?"

The guards nodded with grins and sinister chuckling, the leader knew what had to be done "Take her out front, make sure to—"

Ruby heard his voice abruptly cut off when a large thud crashed behind her, she felt the ground beneath her shake so suddenly, followed up with a drawing of a bladed weapon and the gurgling of blood.

"WHAT THE HELL!" a guard yelps mere seconds before another sound of a blade tearing through flesh and another body collapsing on the floor.

The two men that held young Ruby down immediately got up to engage their unknown assailant but they were quickly met with two loud gunshots that sent them falling to the ground without a sound. She watched the leader's feet move as he drew a shock baton but before he could take a step, a new set of feet, covered in a black body suit that was reinforced with heavy metal armor, appeared right in front of her and she couldn't dare to look up once she heard another fatal swing of a blade that viciously lodged itself into the man's side. She watched as blood dripped from the man's wound before the new figure withdrew its blade causing the leader to fall to the ground dead with a horrendous gash that only an axe-like weapon is capable of inflicting in his side and a stab wound through the side of his neck.

Realizing that she was in more danger than ever she quickly looked around hoping to find her weapon, but she could only find dead maimed bodies with heavy slashes that marked their brutal demise, her eyes frantically searched beyond ever corpse and fallen weapon until they rested upon the familiar heavy red frame that is her scythe. She desperately made a crawl for it, fearing that if she stood up she'd be next, clambering around dead men and discarded weapons until the sound of heavy footsteps resonated behind her which made her freeze. Each step grew closer and closer, Ruby wanted to play dead hoping that the attacker wouldn't notice her, but her eyes soon found the same armored greaves of a black figure as they simple strode past her and stopped at her weapon.

Young Rose remained still as ice as she watched an armored gauntlet reach down and firmly grasp the edge of her weapon, and as the being slowly raised _Crescent Rose_ up from the ground her eyes rose up seeing more armor and body. It was then when her deepest fear was confirmed, that undeniable black skull-like helmet carefully looking down at her weapon that was now in his hands. She wanted to make a move for her scythe but she didn't want to repeat the last time when the soldier seized her neck and prevented her escape, her body tensed as she watch the man turn facing her and subtly drew his grey blocky magnum aimed directly at her head.

" **You just don't know when to quit . . .** " his voice spoke in his usual ice cold attitude.

Deimos had just saved her life, just for her life to be in his hands at gunpoint . . .

 **Please leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.**


	9. Unforseen circumstance

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 8**

 **"** **Unforeseen circumstance"**

[May 31st, 2558]

[Beacon Academy, Dorm Room]

[5:17 PM]

"Did you try calling her again?" Blake asks as she rests in her bed with a book in her hands.

"Yeah but she's still not picking up . . ." Yang replied now feeling somewhat concerned as she paced back and forth through the room.

" _She must not be receiving a signal . . ._ " BB comments as he lies on the desk separated from the anti-materiel rifle.

Long stopped and pondered with worry behind her eyes "I hope she's alright . . ."

[Meanwhile]

Ruby laid there on the ground, surrounded by ten dead White Fang soldiers that were brutally murdered, as she stared up at the seven foot tall SPARTAN-lV that held her weapon firmly in his left and a raised magnum in his right, aimed directly at her forehead.

" **I should kill you right now for the problems you caused that night . . .** " the super soldier stated with agitation in his synthesized voice.

Rose didn't say anything, instead she was laying there waiting for him to pull the trigger and be done with things, but the longer he stood there idle the more she was beginning to wonder ' _Why am I not dead yet?_ '

"FREEZE DON'T MOVE!" an outburst called out.

Deimos didn't take his aim away from Ruby as he looked over his shoulder and saw a countless number of White Fang soldiers gathering up behind him, most of them were armed with firearms while others had impromptu weapons such as heavy wrenches and cutting equipment.

The SPARTAN then took his aim away and slowly turned to face them, staring them down from behind his helmet that gave few among the crowd a cold shiver down their spines, but the same voice called out, originating from the lead soldier that stood closest, "I SAID DON'T FUCKING MOVE! ARE YOU DEAF OR JUST STUPID!?"

Realizing he didn't carry quite enough firepower to take them on alone he holsters his magnum back onto his right thigh, while taking a quick glance at the folded scythe in his hands, and then reached for something tucked away in one of his pouches that decorated the front of his chest. A few seconds later and the SPARTAN produced a handheld canister with a yellow stripe crossing the middle with his thumb in the pin key, ' _Flashbang_ ' Ruby thought recognizing the device from their first encounter.

"Alright! You move one more inch buddy and we'll gun your ass down!" the soldier roared now seeming that he'll do it for real.

But the sociopathic monster simply chuckled, his shoulders bouncing up and down as he laughed, taking the threat as nothing more than a dog's bark, it was his turn " **I'm going to burn you all before I'm through with this place . . .** "

"Oh yeah? You and what army!?"

Deimos knew that he was vastly outnumbered, but it didn't stop him from giving Rose a quick glance before facing the soldiers stating " **Just this one . . .** " and pulled the pin.

What happened within the next few seconds was unbelievable . . .

In Ruby's eyes, everything seemed to have slow down to a fraction of real time; she watched the SPARTAN give the yellow-striped canister a fair under toss, sending it rolling through the air. Then the armored giant quickly spun on his heels and dashed right for her, rushing her to her feet and the two sprinted for a set of stacked crates several meters away. Ruby did her best to cover her ears to spare them from the deafening blast that was to occur within the next millisecond.

The grenade came to a landing in the middle of the cluster and detonated releasing a powerful flash and ear bursting sound, Ruby only heard a sharp blast that was fortunately muffled by her hands but she still felt the wave of energy sweeping over her and the SPARTAN. They got passed the crates and came to a stop before turning to face the blinded crowd of men and women, all crying out in fright of blindness and deaf, Deimos stood there silently watching them all panic before he shifted his eyes down onto Ruby's scythe in hand.

Ruby was beginning to wonder if he was going to use the weapon for himself but then she became surprised, for no explainable reason, the murderous soldier that had taken numerous lives and destroyed property, casually tosses the scythe back to its original owner before reaching for his back and brings out a battle rifle ready for action.

Ruby watched as the sociopathic SPARTAN takes aim at the White Fang with his finger on the trigger, he then spoke without even bothering to look at her " **You're going to need me if you want out of here alive . . .** "

"Why are you helping me?" she asks with a bewildered expression.

Deimos took a brief moment to think before answering " **Mutual benefits.** "

Although hesitant to even fight alongside someone that placed one of her closest friends in a bed, Ruby was somewhat happy to know that this man was on her side even if it were just for this one moment.

She activates _Crescent Rose_ bringing it into its scythe configuration and worked the bolt-action, loading the first round into the chamber, "Thanks . . . I guess" was the only thing she could think of.

Deimos only glimpsed at her before looking back to the soldiers that were recovering " **Just stay out of my way and I won't have to kill you.** "

"Only if you don't kill them" she retorted.

The soldier only gave a gruff growl of agitation before putting it sharply " **Fine.** "

Rose smirked as she turns her sights back to the extremists that finally recuperated from the flashbang's effects and gathered up to form one masse of roughly thirty soldiers, "You're going to pay for that . . ." the lead soldier snarled before drawing his combat pistol from its holster.

Without another word, Deimos quickly shifts his aim and fires off a quick two three-round burst from his rifle, sending the projectiles screaming downrange and tearing through the legs of two White Fang members causing them to topple over crying out in utter shock. The soldiers quickly returned fire with their automatic assault rifles, pelting the SPARTAN's shields with dust ammunition that only lasted long enough for him to put three more bursts of fire into the crowd of hostiles before scrambling for the crates sitting next to them. Ruby was only able to fire off a few high-caliber bullets towards the attackers, sending them ducking for cover much like Deimos, before she herself ducks down next to the SPARTAN who was letting his shields recharge for another exchange.

"Got any plans!?" she asks the super soldier in an exhilarated manner.

Deimos shot her a quick look before he jumps back up to his feet and rear his head and rifle around the corner of the crates to fire off a few bursts, but was quickly pinned down when a shot fired from a soldier strikes him in the faceplate causing his shields to flare and him to duck back down.

"Anymore more bright ideas!?" she queries again.

Deimos gruffly replies " **Working on it . . .** "

The amount of gunfire being laid down on the twos' position was simply overwhelming and unrelenting, rounds smacking against the side of the crates like a heavy hailstorm, but the SPARTAN was able to only peek his head out for a mere second and catch a glimpse of the enemy's positions, men and women firing their automatics from behind toppled crates and support beams that helped keep the building's structural integrity intact while there were those few that helped drag away the wounded.

He sits back down next to the young huntress and quickly reloads his rifle all the while stating " **Be ready on my mark.** "

Ruby wasn't sure what he had planned but she didn't have much of a choice but to trust him, she changes her magazine in her rifle as the SPARTAN got up into a crouch position on one knee, his head just mere inches from her as he kept it below the crates to avoid fire, and without warning a duplicate form of himself instantly materializes into view right in front of her and made a dash for a nearby support beam while shooting off non-existent rounds. That was when Rose figured out this was a mere ruse that worked flawlessly, noticing that over half of the gunmen shifted their aim and fired upon the hologram without even thinking about her.

She then watches him pull out another flashbang grenade " **Last one . . . be ready** " he orders and in response she nods.

The SPARTAN counted to three in his mind before he pulls the safety pin with his thumb and hurls it over the crates towards the distracted troops, some of which caught sight of the hurtling device and dove for cover without regards to their comrades, prompting Ruby to briefly close her eyes and cover her ears.

The next instant was filled with a bright flash accompanied by a deafening blast just moments before the super soldier roared " **NOW!** " vaulting over the crates and charges right into the blinded masse.

Rose quickly followed suit leaping onto the knocked over crate she hid behind and fire her rifle backwards propelling her to high speeds towards the soldiers, bypassing the sprinting SPARTAN within mere milliseconds. She crossed the gap in seconds and, with her overall high velocity combined with her scythe, dashes through the crowd making wide swings with her blade angled to a certain degree where it collides a series of soldiers creating a line through the crowd of men and women thrown into the air screaming out in panic.

Deimos wasn't too far behind when he slaps his rifle onto his back and cocked his right arm back before launching a lightning fast right hook that struck across the nearest soldier's face sending him sprawling backwards into two more of his companions. The soldiers finally recovered from the second flashbang and were surprised to find the two within their lines and a portion of their overall force was incapacitated within seconds.

"KILL THEM!" a man barks.

The small army of White Fang surrounded them, who were separated and located on separate ends of the warehouse, and assaulted the twos' positions with unwavering loyalty and relentless aggression.

The first attack took place when five men simultaneously charged towards the lone SPARTAN in a first attempt to at least subdue him so others could focus on Ruby; it took only seconds for the closest individual, coming from the super soldier's left, to come within arm's reach swinging his crowbar straight for the head. But Deimos's augmented reflexes were already miles ahead of the man, instinctively ducking his head below the metal bar before throwing his left arm up to deflect the soldier's right crowbar wielding arm away and shoot up his own right hand straight for the neck. His hand forcibly seizes the man by the throat, causing him to drop his crowbar and try to free himself with his two hands, before the super soldier used his strength to raise the hostile into the air and slam his back down hard onto the concrete floor, leaving the man breathless and unable to move.

The next two were now closing in and the SPARTAN immediately jumped into the air, performing a devastating roundhouse kick, and planted his left boot against the second soldier's chest sending him crashing onto the ground. The next soldier had already came into striking distance and landed a hard blow to the sociopath's helmet, only to yell out in pain after slamming his bare hand against the SPARTAN's hard titanium-A armor plating, and Deimos willingly returned the favor sending his own fist smashing against the man's cheek causing him to fall to the floor unconscious.

The fourth, after watching the super soldier fend off against three men, hesitantly stops in his tracks trying to determine his next move but Deimos gave little thought as he draws his magnum and fires off a round straight into his right kneecap causing him to tumble over while crying out. The fifth however was able to throw himself onto the SPARTAN's back causing him to stumble back and forth, but unfortunately for the White Fang member Deimos was prepared for a situation like this, curtesy of a particular blonde haired hunter that pulled the same tactic recently, and shot his left elbow backwards catching the attacker in the gut before the SPARTAN seized his right arm and face throwing him headfirst into the ground.

Ruby Rose, on the other side of the warehouse from Deimos, was faring better than her temporary ally incapacitating men with glancing blows from her scythe in rapid succession. Two more men started their assault, charging with heavy wrenches and a blowtorch, but were immediately put down with a single sweep of Rose's massive blade, making this her sixteenth take down. She didn't have much to worry from the White Fang, but from time to time she'll hear the distinct crack of the SPARTAN's magnum or the rapid ' _tat-tat-tat'_ of his SMG that were immediately followed up with a sharp cry of agony and the occasional groans of the wounded meaning that the sociopathic killer was actually complying with her requests, perhaps to a degree, and that he may be more willing to turn himself in later. ' _Don't get ahead of yourself Rose . . ._ ' she thinks to herself as she deals another swipe to a gunman who only had time to fire off a burst from his rifle, ' _He's not going to give in that easy, just like BB said._ '

A soldier quickly charges in from behind and grabs onto her by the arms but she effortlessly hooked her left foot behind his and twirled her scythe backwards before firing the high-caliber rifle launching her out of his hands as well as taking his feet from underneath him in such a violent manner. In addition with her scythe propelled velocity she was able to take down a further seven more soldiers within several successive swipes and twirls with her weapon but there were still plenty more to deal with, some of which were beginning to turn their attention on Deimos as more gunfire rang out inside the building.

That was when her scribe chimed again for the third time just in perfect timing with three soldiers opening fire with automatic gunfire forcing the young huntress to leap for cover within an array of industrial shelves containing a whole assortment of crates and equipment.

She quickly morphs her scythe into its medium-powered rifle mode before reaching for her scroll, to see it was her older sister calling her yet again, and taps on the answer icon "Yang!?" she asks with some worry and exhaustion in her voice.

Yang hammers her with questions as more gunfire broke out "Ruby! Where are you!? Is everything alright!?"

But Ruby was already speaking between gasps of air as she tries to calm herself "No time . . . industrial district, concrete warehouses, along the river. White Fang, Deimos . . . they're fighting . . . and I'm in real trouble here . . ."

"Deimos!? Hang on Ruby, we're coming!"

"Please . . . hurry" Ruby uttered before the three soldiers from before runs around the corner, "There!" one yells out, and the trio open fires forcing her to end the call and shoot back striking one in the shoulder.

But more soldiers appeared and she knew she couldn't stay among the shelves for much longer, and as much as she hated to admit, she needed Deimos to cover her back.

She fires off one last shot before sprinting away taking several turns left and right until she comes back into the central open area where the rest of the fighting took place and not too far away she could see the seven foot SPARTAN holding his ground against a small withering group of enemies that tried and failed to at least apprehend him resulting in broken bones and gunshot wounds. The White Fang troops weren't too far behind forcing her to sprint towards the ensuing brawl where she quickly incapacitates two soldiers from behind with hard swing from her scythe she deployed moments prior.

Deimos was already in the process of taking out another hostile, who made a high swing with a knife in hand but quickly ended up getting grabbed by the left arm and leg and be held high above the ground before being thrown towards another soldier, when he finally takes a step back and bumps against someone he didn't see. He quickly turns his head to see Rose's unmistakable red tinted hair behind him, the two were now standing back to back with the remainder of the soldiers that were still standing so far, he didn't feel the need to state the obvious that they were surrounded on all sides.

"I see eight on my side, you?" Ruby asks without taking her eyes away from those that stood in front of her.

" **Seven** " he answered.

"Easy enough . . ." she smirked.

The young huntress works the bolt-action on her rifle, loading the next round into the chamber, while the SPARTAN holsters his magnum and reaches for his combat knife and foldable tomahawk, which in one good twirl around the finger flipped open with the titanium-carbide blade at the ready. The first wave of soldiers, consisting of nine men, without warning attacked by charging in with wrenches and blades held high ready to cut and maim and guns already blazing but they were immediately cut down within the next few seconds, Ruby twirling her scythe like a highly skilled baton wielder knocking the first few down with little effort, and Deimos dealt with his fair share of four men.

He gave his knife a light toss into the air before catching the tip of the blade between his fingers and throw it with enough power and precision to send it twirling through the air towards one of the approaching soldiers where the blade tore viciously into the man's right shoulder joint. The man dropped to the floor with a brief yelp of pain as the second and third soldier closed in with wrenches and pistol. Deimos skips to steps forward, switching his tomahawk to his right hand, and swings a heavy left backhand towards the wrench wielding faunus forcibly knocking him to the ground out cold. The third soldier quickly stops in his tracks and puts a quick five dust rounds into the side of the SPARTAN's head, the first three bringing down his shields and the next two slamming against the titanium alloy plating that only showed signs of withering under fire. In a brief fit of rage Deimos turned and took a step towards the man, who at this point realized he fucked up, and lets out an angry guttural roar swinging the axe high overhead and brought it down lodging it inside the man's cranium.

Another soldier quickly rushes in to try and stop the enraged SPARTAN, who brutally withdrawn his tomahawk from the victim's head without regards, but quickly stops mere feet away when the sociopath takes a swing for his abdomen. The White Fang member took a quick step back luckily avoiding the axe head and brought up his pistol to fire but he was too late once Deimos grabbed onto his right arm with his left and drove the tomahawk into his left side ripping through fabric and muscle before firmly lodging itself in place as the man screamed out to the top of his lungs. Deimos quickly ended his pain when he firmly planted his left boot against his chest and pushed him away, the tomahawk eviscerating more flesh as it made its way out through a new course, before drawing one of his SMGs and unload what was left inside the magazine into the man's chest.

Ruby heard the commotion and briefly spun her head around to see two men freshly killed with butchered limbs, "I said not to kill them!" she barks angrily.

The SPARTAN growled with hatred " **It's not like you need them, they had their chances to run.** "

She watched as the remaining two individuals, one male and female both rather young, quickly thought about their chances before turning heel and hightail it out of there before she turns back to see three members pulling off one last desperate effort to defend their operations here, one was turning away in a different direction but she didn't have time to watch him. The soldiers came within striking distance for Rose who then simply made a single sweep with her scythe and rendered them immediately incapacitated along with everyone else, save for those that were unfortunately killed by Deimos.

She lets out a sigh of relief feeling they had won until her ears picked up the distinct sound of a gun being cocked behind her; she slowly turns her head to find the SPARTAN with his magnum in hand aimed directly at her head.

"So much for good teamwork . . ."she puts out.

Deimos scoffed " **You're hardly SPARTAN material, not even close to shock troopers, but I'll admit I'm impressed.** "

' _SPARTAN? Shock troopers? Is that what he is? But what does that mean?_ ' questions flooded her mind once more but she couldn't think about them at this moment knowing her life could end with a single pull of a trigger, "So . . . this is how it ends then . . ." she wonders.

" **I have my orders** " he straightens his arm taking aim showing the clear intentions to shoot to kill.

Ruby knew this was going to happen once this was all over but fortunately she also planned on it, her mind had already set a plan into place to deal with this, but then something caught her attention. Out of the corner of her eye she catches sight of something large moving in the darkness behind the SPARTAN, Deimos also noticed something wasn't right when his audio receptors picked up a mechanical whir and the heavy thud of footsteps prompting him to lower his gun and slowly turn around.

In the darkness the two could make out a massive bulky apparition stalking them from behind the tall shelves full of industrial equipment. Each step came down with a crashing sound as it shook the ground beneath them prompting Ruby to quickly reload her rifle while Deimos stood where he was, waiting for the eminent attack. And surely enough it did.

The giant mechanical monstrosity briefly stopped for a single moment before it broke out into a charge, smashing into shelves and practically knocking every object out of the way, until it reached the open area under the light and revealed itself as the Paladin-290 battlesuit with its right metal fist raised ready to smash. Deimos quickly took several steps back firing away with his M6C, though it made no effect against the paladin's heavily armored chassis, not even scratches in this case, before the raised fist came down like a hammer. The SPARTAN leaps back avoiding the would-be fatal blow and holsters his magnum in favor for the battle rifle on his back, he fires off three quick bursts of fire before the machine came around for another swing, this time with a left backhand, and lands a devastating hit against the seven foot soldier sending him sprawling through the air until he crashes into a shelf causing it to topple over and its falling on top of him like an avalanche.

Ruby only saw a blur of black before the shelf came crashing down and now all she could see was the pile of smashed crates and containers laying on top of the SPARTAN and his helmet lying on the ground close to the rubble without a head to protect. She switches her sight back to the paladin and readies her scythe while the suit switches its primary armament from a pair of giant metallic hands to dual sets of ranged weaponry, involving energy based cannons mounted as the forearms and a double barreled high-caliber autocannon mounted on the side of each cannon.

The paladin catches sight of the young huntress, with the aid of its onboard array of motion-sensing cameras, and locks all weapons systems onto target. Rose knew, despite just being held at gunpoint yet again just a second ago, she needed Deimos desperately now more than ever and with him incapacitated and buried things just got a lot more difficult. ' _So . . . that's where that one guy ran off to_ ' she mused herself seconds before the mech charges its primary weapons and fires its right arm-mounted cannon sending a bolt of pure energy streaming straight towards her. She quickly dashes out of the way, letting the bolt to hit the ground where she once stood and explode, before firing her weapon backwards propelling herself towards the paladin.

Deimos lied under a couple feet of shattered wood and twisted metal when he woke up from his brief moment of unconsciousness and found himself pinned under the debris, he could hear the crack of Rose's rifle and the hydraulic hiss and whine of the paladin as it tries to effectively engage the speedy huntress. His vision was blurred when he woke up but he could see a bright light shining down on him through the rubble, he tried to shield his exposed eyes but found that his left arm was pinned under a part of the shelf itself. He needed to get out of here, realizing the situation was critical and his little endeavor here was now a lost cause.

He uses his free right arm and grabs a firm hold underneath the large piece of metal that sat on his chest and began to push upwards, using all the strength he could muster whether natural or augmented, "Rrrgh!" he grunts loudly as he pushed.

He was able to lift the heavy weight just a mere foot off his chest, which was enough for him to work with his left arm to wriggle its way out from underneath the shelving, and begun to push up harder now with his two hands. Wood snapped and metal creaked the further the SPARTAN pushed with all his might, ' _Dammit there's no way in hell am I going to die or be captured like this_ ' he cursed himself, he could feel objects toppling over all around him, some of which fell away from the spot he was pushing taking away some of the weight.

"Rraaaaaaaghh!" he bellows as he makes one final push and throws the debris off of him.

Now free, he stands to and quickly finds Rose surprisingly holding her own against the paladin using her unnatural speed to her advantage, he takes one look at the mech itself and decided to be a little generous and pay it back. He searches through his munitions pouches and quickly finds that he still has one last M9 HEDP grenade in reserve, he also knows that an external detonation wouldn't do much against armor as thick as the paladin's, so he decides to try and initiate an internal detonation.

He climbs out of the rubble, stumbling over unstable grounds, and finds his battle rifle lying over a scrap of wood and metal prompting him to carefully grasp it before slapping it onto his back. Ruby catches sight of him, only having enough time to notice his pale complexion and dark brown hair in short buzz cut hairstyle, before turning back to see the paladin take aim and fire another round at her forcing her to leap out of the way.

Ruby comes to a complete stop and calls out "A little help would be nice!"

Deimos shot her a quick look "Keep it distracted for a few minutes!" he answers back with a more human-like voice due to the lack of a voice synthesizer but still maintained that deep raspy voice.

The huntress acknowledges the order with a quick nod before bringing her sniper rifle to bear and fired off several rounds into the paladin's hull armor, causing mere scratches with glancing blows and spalling with direct hits but to no devastating effect. Though her weapon didn't achieve the goal of penetrating the armor and damage critical joints or systems, it certainly did grab the mech's attention causing it to warm up its dual-barreled autocannons and open fire sending high-caliber slugs downrange. This gave the SPARTAN the time he needed to go into a mad dash towards the paladin while it was preoccupied, the back-mounted thrusters came online emitting a blue thrust behind the SPARTAN allowing him to gain more speed and close the gap in seconds.

Ruby lets off one last round just in time to see the dark SPARTAN close in like a homing missile before leaping onto the paladin's left arm forcing the towering mech to attempt to throw him off by swinging its left arm around, causing Deimos to flail about but still held on firmly. She had to give it to him for determination and tenacity, not willing to back down from any fight unless his orders were against action, she watched him dangle back and forth as the paladin viciously swung its arm back and forth, then he began to climb. Deimos manages to get a footing against the secondary dual-barreled autocannon, despite the constant swinging about, and pushes himself up along the upper arm just as the paladin equips its mechanical hand for its right arm and makes and attempt to grab him.

But Rose was quick to react and darts right for the mech with her scythe ready for the blow, she closed the distance of seventeen meters in just mere seconds before swinging her blade in an uppercut fashion, _Crescent Rose's_ razor sharp blade cleaves through the suit's wrist severing the hand clean off before she bounces away granting the SPARTAN his chance to bring the machine down.

Deimos was by now moving around the paladin's shoulder joint before he clambers onto the hulking metal back where there was a maintenance bar to grasp onto, as he hung onto the bar with his left hand and his feet firmly planted against the lower back, he quickly searches and finds the paladin's access panel that leads into the emergency coolant system for the suit's dust-powered reactor core. Then he brings his right fist to bear and tears away at the panel before firmly grasping hold of a loose end and rip it clean off exposing the coolant management controls, he reaches for the fragmentation grenade and primes it for detonation with a press of the red trigger.

Ruby kept her distance as she watched the SPARTAN cock his right arm back, with the armed grenade inn hand, and throws a hard fist into the panel, breaking through the external paneling and embedding the grenade inside, before letting go of the explosive. Shortly after he leaps off allowing the grenade to detonate inside the suit, vaporizing the coolant controls and rupturing the reactor core as well as blowing out a large section of its backside, causing the suit to stagger back and forth as the pilot tried to regulate the power flow that was no longer there. The paladin couldn't stand under its weight anymore without power and gave way sending the colossal mechanical giant crashing down onto the ground where it laid there motionless, the pilot was soon seen after he initiated the emergency door release and makes a run for the nearest exit leaving the scene.

With smoke bellowing out of the mech's backside, Ruby was finally able to relax for the briefest moment before she spots Deimos walking towards her in a calm manner and as he grew closer she was able to point out the finer details of the SPARTAN's face. Aside from the pale skin and light brown hair shaved into a buzz cut, his facial structure was rugged but clean showing that he has time to tend to himself in between missions from time to time, there was deep long mark that ran along his right cheek that stretched from between the edge of his lips to his ear that, by further examination, was a bullet graze wound that happened a very long time ago, presumably decades ago. But what finally caught her attention was his eyes, light brown eyes that seemed to wander about looking for something to distract it, the next instant his eyes darts straight for hers as he was mere walking past her, cold, dark, and unforgiving his eyes told her that this ' _thing_ ' was no longer human, but a monster disguised as a human, but there was something else. As Ruby looked into his eyes she could see the horrendous amount of pain he was going through, not the kind he endured today in the fighting but something on a more personal level, the pain of loss and hatred for anything and everything he had ever loved . . . Rose hadn't expected this . . .

The SPARTAN strode past her without a word and continued on his way to where his helmet laid, he kindly takes the edge of it and brings it back over his head where it locked in with the suit with an air tightening hiss, and simply starts to walk away.

But Ruby eventually stops him "Hey wait!"

The black SPARTAN stops in his tracks and asks in a sharp tone " **What.** "

"That's it? You're just going to leave? No trying to kill me or even say something threatening?"

He subtly turns around and gestures with open arms to the masse of dead and injured White Fang soldiers " **I've done plenty today, I have what I came for, and the authorities will be here soon** " at that second he catches the distant roaring sound of a turbine engine, most likely from an incoming dual-turbine Bullhead VTOL aircraft, " **Or your compatriots . . . all the same.** **It'll be a further waste of my time.** "

The huntress was reluctant to tell him about what she heard on her way here but she felt there was probably no time to dawdle "There's a bomb here . . . in this warehouse."

He was beginning to turn away when he stopped again asking " **A bomb? I suppose you want me to do something about it . . .** "

She nodded silently which caused the SPARTAN to let out a frustrated sigh before accessing the tactical display pad on his left arm, pressing several holographic keys, and started turning in several directions before turning north and state " **Radiation signatures just spiked . . . twenty meters out.** "

He begins to walk north with Ruby following, keeping her distance in fear of Deimos turning on her the moment he has the opportunity, eventually coming to a stop at a large shelf standing against the northern wall, after several seconds of further scanning, he finds a large wooden crate posted on the bottom shelf and pulls it out. It didn't take much afterwards to pry open the wooden top with his bare hands, despite how many nails were placed to keep it shut, and find that the crate was filled with explosives, wiring, circuitry, small cases of shrapnel, and a motherboard on top with a display monitor and keypad.

The two took a moment to examine the effort put into building the device until Ruby looks up to the SPARTAN asking "Can you defuse it?"

Deimos muses himself " **Hmph can I . . .** " before getting down on his knees for a closer look.

It was only a mere second after before the naïve little huntress asks again "Can yo-"

" **Of course I can!** " he scolds her rather harshly before getting to work.

He equips his combat knife and proceeds to unscrew the covering on the motherboard with the tip of the blade when the two heard the aircraft come to a landing in the street in front of the warehouses. He didn't care to what may be coming and continues his work, carefully working his way through wiring and metal before finding what he was looking for.

It was only a mere seconds later when the two heard the distant cry "Ruby!?"

Rose quickly recognized it as her older sister, Yang, and calls out "Over here!" before turning to the SPARTAN "Well?"

" **Almost done . . . these men are a sad joke when it comes to explosives.** "

She watched him as he painstakingly brings the circuit router with such slowness and caution; the component was the main hub where all of the bomb's wires were connected, from the power supply to the individual explosive charge inside the crate. All he needed to do now was simply find the wire that leads to the power supply or disable the router entirely.

At that moment Ruby heard the running footsteps of multiple people coming around the corner and turns around to see Yang, Blake, and Team JNPR all rushing to her with weapons at the ready before all coming to a complete halt when they noticed the SPARTAN crouched next to the crate.

Jaune was the first to ask squinting his eyes to try and get a better look "What is he-"

"He's arming a bomb!" Pyrrha exclaims as she transforms _Miló_ into rifle mode and takes aim.

But Ruby quickly steps in the way "No wait! He's defusing it!"

"Wait . . . what?" everyone responded dumbfounded not expecting to see Deimos doing such a task.

" **Got it . . .** "

Rose turns to see Deimos steadily stand back up, sheathing his knife, before he holds up the disconnected circuit router in hands and crush it into dust between his fingers.

" **The bomb is no longer any of my concern or yours . . . now if you'll let me, I'll be on my way.** "

The sociopathic SPARTAN turns on his heels and begins to calmly walk away until Pyrrha's voice calls out "Why did you help us!?"

Deimos stops letting out a sigh in agitation, feeling the need to leave the area, and simply replies without turning around " **As much as I want to see the world burn, I want to be the one to set it on fire.** "

He proceeds to resume walking when Blake stops him next "If you keep running, we'll find you eventually . . ."

The SPARTAN gives a small chuckle before turning his head towards her " **No. I'll find you.** "

Yang raises her fists up like a professional boxer "Stop being a wuss and fight us! It's your mission isn't it!?"

His eyes shift to hers " **Always the blunt one aren't you? If you're looking for a rematch don't worry. You'll have it soon enough, that I guarantee. To all of you** " and just mere seconds afterwards, his body fades into thin air leaving no trace of his presence behind.

With Deimos now gone the group holstered their weapons with Yang running over to Ruby to give her a tight hug "Ruby don't scare us like that again! What were you doing here anyways!?"

"I was walking through town when I heard two men mention a bomb, I followed them, came here, I got captured, Deimos appeared, and uh . . ." she turns her head towards the downed soldiers before turning back "Well . . . yeah . . ."

"And he helped you why?" Blake asks seemingly curious.

"I don't know actually, he said it was 'mutual benefits'."

"Well anyways, we're just glad you're alright Ruby . . . plus you might've saved a lot of people by disarming that bomb" Pyrrha sighs in relief.

Ruby couldn't help but give a small grin knowing that her actions today halted an entire White Fang operation and potentially saved countless lives in the future, though she had to give some credit to Deimos for helping when he could've just killed her and be done with it, but the question still lingered ' _Why didn't he kill me when he had the chance?_ ' She couldn't give much more thought when sirens blared in the distance, it came to mind that the police were always too late to the scene after everything had happened which was disappointing but was also starting to humor her in a way. Eventually everyone made their way back to the bullhead airship that was waiting for them in the open intersection next to the warehouses, one aboard the VTOL aircraft gently raises itself off the ground and soon above the surrounding buildings.

Rose was sitting quietly next to the open door when she glanced out and catches sight of Deimos standing atop a roof not too far away, who was looking back at her, and the two stared at one another before the SPARTAN disappears once more into the rising night.

"What do you think he meant by having a rematch soon?" Jaune asks now concerned for everyone's safety.

"It's pretty obvious he's coming for us next, most likely when we're at our most vulnerable" Blake comments.

"Thanks to what happened tonight, I don't think that'll be coming anytime soon" Yang replies as she sits back with her legs crossed and hands behind her head.

"I don't know . . . he seemed pretty sure of himself . . . but what is it he has in mind?" Pyrrha had to ask now sharing her partner's worry for their safety.

Ruby had thought long and hard about what the SPARTAN said tonight, and then it struck her, "He's coming for us . . . at Beacon . . ." she answers with a sense of dread in her mind.

"Deimos is smart, he wouldn't risk an attack on the academy" Ren adds after his long moment of silence.

"But he's not scared, taking on two teams head on shows us that."

Yang sits back up now with a new question in mind "So what do we do?"

Pyrrha was the one to answer "We tell Ozpin, hopefully he'll know what to do before it's too late . . ."

 **Please leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.**


	10. Lockdown

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 9**

 **"** **Lockdown"**

[June 2nd, 2558]

[Beacon Academy, Dorm Rooms]

[7:32 AM, Two days later]

It has been roughly two days since Ruby's somewhat friendly encounter with Deimos in the industrial district and as of their return back to Beacon, they've informed Headmaster Ozpin and General Ironwood of the likely threat on the academy itself, and Ozpin has taken it upon his duty to ensure the safety of the academy and its students by giving Ironwood permission to deploy troops and do whatever deems necessary in making sure the SPARTAN would never arrive on Beacon soil.

Ruby was the first to wake as usual, sitting up and giving her arms a big stretch accompanied by a long yawn, before she climbed out of bed and looked out the window to see students heading off to their morning classes and Atlesian soldiers marching in squads of six, four human troops with two Atlesian Knight-200s following them from behind, ensuring the safety of the students at all times.

" _Still bustling with military activity I presume?_ " BB whispers out of the silence.

She whispers back "Yeah . . . Ironwood doesn't play around, though it's bit overkill . . ."

" _Nonsense, the good general is merely doing his job to ensure all residents of Beacon are safe. Plus with the aid of several veteran hunters and huntresses, even someone by the likes of Deimos will think twice before attacking._ "

Yang slowly awoke from her sleep after hearing the two talk for a moment, she sits up with a good stretch and yawn before asking tiredly "What's up . . ."

" _Oh you know, another day at class, foot soldiers marching about, a sociopathic arsonist most likely trying to find a way in._ "

That comment made Ruby think about Deimos and what happened the other night, then she remembered what he said to her ' _You're hardly SPARTAN material, not even close to shock troopers, but I'll admit I'm impressed._ '

She then turned towards ORACLE-N scope and asks "BB, what's a SPARTAN?"

Yang glanced at her little sister with a confused expression "SPARTAN? What kind of name is that?"

The two turned to the scope waiting for an answer, the AI sighed " _Well . . . I suppose informing you wouldn't break protocol- no it certainly wouldn't. A SPARTAN is a genetically engineered, cybernetic augmented super soldier created for the task of serving the UNSC to an efficient and damn near hyper lethal capacity. They are the best of the best, and they're not shy to show it._ "

"What else is there?" Blake's voice asks, the two huntresses looks up to see their third member awake and paying attention.

" _The SPARTAN Branch spans over four different generations, each with a jump in technological advancement and training._ "

"What generation is Deimos from?" Yang asks.

" _Fourth generation, the latest class of SPARTANs in the UNSC, they've been given superior armor that is flexible in design and extremely durable while maintaining overall mobility and are equipped with top of the line weapons and devices. I suppose you're all lucky to be dealing with him than any other generation._ "

However Ruby waves it off with a smirk "Nah if they're that high-tec then everyone else should be easy right?"

" _Oh no Miss Ruby, as a matter of fact, the third generation were numerous as they were strong. Numbering at around a few hundred, they were regarded as fearsome and malicious in combat operations during the war, sadly almost all of that generation has been wiped out during said war._ "

Blake was quick to ask "Wait, there were SPARTANs fighting in the Great War? How come we haven't heard about them?"

The AI at this point realizes that the girls were thinking of a completely different conflict rather than the Human-Covenant War that erupted in the galaxy around them nearly three decades ago, he had almost forgotten the sessions in Dr. Oobleck's class regarding the great war that ended eighty decades ago, over twice as long ago than humanity's war with the alien aggressors that was the Covenant.

Despite this he begins to go along with the conversation " _Yes well, the SPARTAN-llls performed mainly in covert special operations rather than full scale battles. Many battles were won on every side because of these soldiers._ "

"So they weren't on anyone's side from the start, just like Deimos today . . ." Ruby comments.

" _Indeed, the UNSC has existed for many decades before the war started._ "

"Third generation SPARTANs don't sound that bad, if they just need a few hundred to do special operations then they have to suck" Yang exclaims with upmost confidence "Heck I bet second generations are a joke."

" _That's where you're dead wrong Miss Long, the SPARTAN-lls was the UNSC's most drastic accomplishment to this date. Their kill record far surpasses any known military unit in history and their numbers were so few, they were considered by many as walking legends. In fact I'm afraid that if you had encountered a second generation SPARTAN the night you engaged Deimos, it would be certain that none of you would have survived._ "

"Do they still exist today?" Blake had to ask.

" _Yes but their numbers are uncomfortably thin, they are only to be deployed under the most extreme circumstances. And god help you if you ever find yourself in a fight against them._ "

Ruby also had one question "And their kill record, how many?"

" _. . . little below a million . . ._ "

That sent a chill down everyone's back, a handful of soldiers capable of killing a little under a million people, true monsters indeed, "And what about the first generation?"

" _Practically non-existent, a vast majority of the SPARTAN-ls have all died out with maybe a handful remaining in service but even then age is getting to them at this point. Despite being failures to become what the UNSC had hoped for, they did pave the way in technological science and biochemistry for the SPARTAN-lls and llls._ "

Blake figured since they were talking about numbers she had to ask "How many are in the fourth generation?"

" _Twice the number of llls, all in active service as of today. Though normally the UNSC would deploy them in fireteams of four, and yet Deimos is alone . . ._ "

Yang smirked as she sat back in her bed with her hands behind her head "Huh, guess the bad boy doesn't play nice with others."

" _Quite . . . the time is 7:45, I suggest you all get dressed and prepared for class._ "

Yang makes a snarky remark "When did you become our mom?"

" _Since you brought back home the night of the pizzeria! And since I can't just walk out like I want to, I might as well make myself useful. Now go get dressed or you're going to miss breakfast._ "

"Ok mom!" the two sisters chirped loudly followed up with joyful laughter.

[9:55 AM, Ozpin's office]

The headmaster stood alone, silently taking sips from his coffee mug as he spectates the bustling activity down below, students heading off to classes and soldiers marching about, and despite being opposed to military restrictions and doctrine he needed Ironwood's help in making sure the students and faculty of Beacon Academy is safe. He watched as soldiers and androids move in routine patterns, militarized Bullhead VTOLs and Atlesian gunships slowing gliding through the skies above the campus, and Ironwood's personal warship looming just a mile away, brimming with additional troops ready to act should Deimos find a way inside.

It saddened him to take such steps but he knew what was at stake and he wasn't about to gamble it on presumptions and confidence, not this time, and that was the moment when he heard the doors open and close behind him followed up with a steady set of heavy footsteps. Each step didn't miss a beat which signified order and routine.

Without turning around the headmaster asks "I take it things are now in effect?"

Ironwood's voice called back "Yes. Everything has been put in place to make sure this academy is a fortress. I have troops and aerial surveillance on routine patrol patterns throughout the campus grounds, I doubled the guards standing post at the airdocks ready to inspect every ship that lands there. I should also note that I warned them about Deimos's ability to cloak himself so they'll be more vigilant. I've also enacted a curfew for the students, no one should be outside their dorms beyond six o'clock to seven in the morning. And my warship is ready with additional reinforcements should Deimos somehow break inside."

"I asked you to make sure this place was protected, not make it feel like a prison . . ." Ozpin sighs.

The good general frowned "I hate to know you see it that way, but this is a very dangerous situation right now, and you're lucky this isn't my academy otherwise I'd have everyone wear body armor."

"And I appreciate what you are trying to do for the students. But to see them under so much military supervision, I'll admit it's quite unsettling."

"I'm sorry you feel that way . . . but sometimes we have to do what must be done for the sake of others."

The headmaster slowly turns back around to see James standing there flanked by two soldiers equipped with standard issue armor, with yellow trimmings, and assault rifles.

Ozpin subtly raises an eyebrow prompting the good general to explain why armed men are standing in his office, "They're your security detail, picked from my finest, we can't rule out the possibility of you being Deimos's target."

"And what of Team RWBY and JNPR? The kids that engaged Deimos and may have most likely branded themselves as targets?"

"I have two patrols standing guard near their rooms, it's quite fortunate that they live across from one another."

"Good . . ." Ozpin replies as he looks back out to the city.

Ironwood couldn't help but get the feeling that, despite pulling out all the stops to make sure Deimos wouldn't even dare to break in, Ozpin still felt concerned and he understood why "You're worried for the other students . . ."

"Yes. I am."

"Well if what Ruby said was correct then I'm sure Deimos wouldn't bother to go after them. He _is_ definitely military so he'll stay strict to orders and attempt to go after RWBY and JNPR or you, the fact that he's been off the radar since the police incident and that he unwillingly complied with young Rose's demands to spare the White Fang in the industrial district proves that theory."

The headmaster took a moment to offer a slight grin, showing that Ironwood's theory eased him a little, and asks "I get the impression that you're rather impressed by Deimos's feats so far . . ."

James chuckled "While I don't respect what he's done so far, killing law enforcement and destroying public property, I have to hand it to him for his efficiency and independence to complete his tasks. I just wish I can have a few words with him before I arrest him or otherwise."

"Be careful what you wish for General, you might just get it . . ."

"Please . . . the academy is in good hands for the time, there's always the chance that Deimos would be discouraged and back away.

"There is . . . but it took you a little over a day to shore up our defenses, time that he could've already made his move."

"I had to ensure we had troops safeguarding the city as well so I pulled squads that weren't needed in the field or were in reserve, and after the train incident a two weeks ago I'm afraid most of our forces were occupied in securing the underground hideout as well as the old ruins."

"I understand the need to protect the city and the academy, I'm just afraid we might be too late . . ."

James waved his soldiers off to take their posts by the door and walked over next to his old friend "Ozpin, there's been no reports of fighting yet, no gunfire, no casualties. If Deimos was in the campus by now then those reports would've been entirely different, if he realized how little time he has in Beacon without being spotted then he would've struck sooner, almost instantly as a matter of fact while there were few troops to begin with."

The headmaster saw truth in those words, it's logical to think that Deimos would've struck while there were so few troops inside the academy, minimal resistance for him to deal with and he would be able to complete his objectives with little difficulty.

"Thank you General . . ." he takes another sip from his coffee to calm his nerves "I think it's time that we resume our respectful duties."

"I couldn't agree more, I'll come back before the day ends to see how the troops are doing."

On that note the general starts to walk away without another word, leaving his two men to guard Ozpin while he stood silently at the window with his coffee mug, but when James was nearing the door it opens up letting Ms. Goodwitch in. The two shared brief glances before heading on their separate ways, the general heading out the door and the huntress making her way over to the headmaster.

Ozpin turns to see her and gave a small grin "Glynda . . . it's good to see a face that doesn't belong to a military."

Glynda however gave no kind gesture back , maintaining the usual straight face, before she started on what she came here to do "I've already spoken with Oobleck and Port, if the time comes, they'll be ready to help."

The headmaster nodded to that with relief as he returned to his seat "That's good . . . I have much more faith in my own staff than in Ironwood's men."

One of the soldiers standing guard looked over at Ozpin with a disconcerting look to which he puts kindly "Not that you two are bad, you're doing great . . ." prompting the soldier to resume his duty.

Goodwitch continued "As I was saying . . . with Oobleck and Port we'll stand a much better chance at protecting the students, especially teams RWBY and JNPR."

"Thank you Glynda . . . that's all I needed to hear" Ozpin replies as he sits back comfortably in his chair.

The huntress had nothing more to say at the moment and decided it was best to leave letting Ozpin to think quietly to himself.

[12:18 PM, Mess hall]

" _I wonder why you even bother to bring me along to lunch . . . I find this a complete misallocation of resources_ " BB moans as he watches team RWBY and JNPR eat.

"Are you always this whiney?" Nora asks with a mouth full of food, small pieces flying out and hitting against the scope's optical lens.

" _Only when I'm at a useless capacity, and please, swallow your food before speaking . . ._ "

Pyrrha pays no mind to the AI's misery and asks the other team "So Deimos is something called a SPARTAN? Did you tell Ozpin and Ironwood?"

"We will when we get out of class today" Xiao Long answers.

"Why would someone go through augmentations and enhancements? It sounds a little inhuman."

Blake answered "He's loyal to the UNSC . . . anybody would do it for their cause."

Yang adds "Maybe he wants a real challenge, like me" pointing her thumb to herself with a confident grin.

It was then when Jaune and Pyrrha noticed Ruby was unusually quiet, silently stirring her spoon in her bowl of soup, and Jaune asks "Ruby?"

Rose's eyes looked up into his, caught out of her deep thoughts, and asks "Oh sorry, you were saying something?"

"I didn't say anything . . ."

"Oh . . ." she moans as her eyes fell down.

Pyrrha had to ask "Are you doing alright Ruby? You look a little out of it . . ."

Ruby then decided to speak what was bothering her "That night when Deimos and I fought the White Fang, we were attacked by one of those paladins when it knocked him into a shelf and knocked his helmet off. Eventually we destroyed it but when I looked into his eyes . . . he looked hurt."

"That's what happens when a paladin hits you, they're tough" Yang chimes in as she takes a bite out of a chicken drumstick.

"No not that kind of hurt, something more personal . . . like he lost something . . ."

"Or someone . . ." Ren adds.

"Yeah . . . guys I don't know how to put this but- I don't think Deimos is the monster we all think he is. He had the same look Yang and I had when we lost my mother . . ."

That gave everyone some pause to rethink who they were dealing with, originally thought to be a man with no hint of humanity whatsoever inside, no soul, something that was considered by many as a monster even by himself. But now with Rose's new discovery, this was something rather different and on a sadder case.

Each one of them glanced at one another, sharing the same concerned expression they all had, until all their eyes came to a rest on BB " _What?_ "

Ruby asks "You're UNSC, you should know something about Deimos's past right?"

" _I'm only on a need-to-know basis, SPARTAN Deimos's psychological profile and background history is beyond my authorization, the only way I'd know is if my creator forwards the files to me._ "

"So what do we do now?" Yang asks.

Everyone gave each other curious expressions until Pyrrha answers "We try and reason with him . . ."

Jaune was quick to point out "Uh before or after he tries to kill us?"

"Preferably before, but if it comes to that then we'll have to make sure he listens one way or another . . ."

"So all we have to do is wait till he strikes again . . ." Blake adds.

"Ugh I'm tired of waiting . . . I still want my rematch after our first date."

Ruby looked over to Yang "You call the fight you had a date?"

"Well yeah, it was fun and we both enjoyed it. Might as well have been something right?"

"He threw you into the pavement . . ." Belladonna remarks.

Long couldn't help but maintain that playful grin of hers "And I threw him into a car, we both still had fun in a weird way."

Blake decided not to argue with Yang any further and eat the rest of her food, Jaune still couldn't grasp the idea that Deimos wasn't alone in this world "And to think there's a whole army of those things, hopefully not like Deimos . . ."

"Maybe they have a better sense of humanity than him" Pyrrha hopes.

" _Well we can't think about that sort of thing right now . . . Right now we focus on one day at a time._ "

"That's probably for the best" Ren added.

[2: 17 PM, Dorm rooms]

"Here? You're sure? Cinder asks as she sets calmly on her bed with her scroll in hand.

"No doubt about it, Ironwood is pulling all of his boys here to protect the academy, they're more afraid of this freak than we thought" Mercury explains.

"And for good reason, this soldier is definitely unlike anything we've seen. And I'm rather impressed, if only we had that sort of power on our side . . ."

Emerald, currently laying on the floor reading a magazine, suggests playfully "Hmm maybe you should ask him when you get the chance."

However Cinder actually took that somewhat seriously as she looks down at her scroll, displaying a close up image of Deimos back at the night of the police attack "Maybe I will . . ."

She eventually looks up and finds Black looking out the window, he was rather focused on something as his eyes narrowed, "What is it?" she asks.

"Thought I . . . it was nothing. My eyes are messin' with me."

"That's what happens when you stay up late" Emerald comments as she continues to read her magazine.

She looks back down at her scroll steadily examining every feature of the armor and helmet, showing a menacing intent from his posture. Then with one swipe of a finger she hides the photo away to bring up detailed police reports regarding the recent attacks on White Fang holdouts, she had already read through them before but she felt she was missing something from it all so she was willing to read through them again. They all shared the same M.O.: high body count, gunshot wounds to chest and heads, broken necks and stab wounds, solid metal projectile rounds rather than the traditional dust ammunition, use of thrown grenades and flashbangs have been confirmed, and every scene was torched and burned before first responders ever arrive on scene. The only time something different happened was during the latest attack in the industrial district, most of the soldiers were incapacitated rather than killed on the demands of Ruby Rose, ' _Well . . . at least he's able to listen to orders . . ._ ' she thought to herself with her usual sinister half-sided grin. Now if only she could obtain that sort of edge for her own agenda . . . if only.

Her train of thought was eventually broken when she hears Emerald's voice ask "Think he'll get in with all these soldiers?"

"Oh don't worry . . . I'm sure our guest is quite resourceful. He'll find a way in."

She silently flips back to the photo and brought the LOCUS-Variant helmet up close, her mind now wondering what sort of person is hiding underneath it, she could only imagine.

[5:28 PM, Unspecified location]

Sitting high in the thick branches and leaves of trees that concealed him from the public eye SPARTAN Deimos was making the final preparations for his operation, currently running one last maintenance check on the GPMG M247 that lay across his lap. He was meticulous when it came to weaponry, believing that even the slightest malfunction can easily result in death, or worse a mission failure in his case, a mindset he shares with the legendary SPARTAN-lls. Everything was in place and ready for action, the only thing he didn't account for . . . was Obadiah.

"SPARTAN Deimos, what in god's name on Heaven and Earth do you think you're doing?" the major's voice crackled through his helmet, sounding extremely agitated for some apparent reason.

" **Completing my objective, by the end of the next planetary rotation those huntresses will no longer be a problem for us. Sir.** "

"Not anymore you're not, after you defied my explicit orders to not arouse any more attention and ended up blowing up half the city, I'm pulling you out for immediate debrief and reassignment."

Deimos was confused, " **They were necessary actions, I needed to acquire the tools in order to conduct this operation. Who would've cared for the deaths of extremists?** "

"Obviously everyone does, they also cared for the fact they you destroyed public property. You are to report to the designated rendezvous point where a pelican will be ready to take you back to _High Up_."

The SPARTAN wasn't ready to pull out now, not while he so close to completing his task, but he couldn't defy the major's orders . . . it was who he was, a soldier that never disobeyed an order regardless. But, not anymore.

" **No. Sir.** "

"What was that SPARTAN?"

" **Cancel that bird Major, I'm completing my mission whether you like it or not. I'm not about to abandon the mission because of a few misunderstandings.** "

"Misunderstandings!? Adam are you listening to yourself right now!? Pull back now! That is an order!"

" **Too late to stop now, the charges have been set and there's no going back to deactivate them.** "

"You what!? Adam this has gone too far! You're stirring up some serious trouble in ONI right now and if you don't exfil this instant! You will be considered an enemy of the UNSC."

" **I am not straying from the mission. That is final.** "

"Fine. Have it your way. Major Obadiah, out" and like that, there was silence.

Deimos sat there silently, not even working on his machine gun, waiting for something to come back to him but there was no point. He had been deserted by the UNSC and was now alone in a world of monsters with no clear objective in sight, he begins to laugh ' _They left a monster in a world of monsters . . . oh ONI, you never disappoint. If Obadiah is no longer my commanding officer then I'll make my own directives. My own goals. My own score to settle . . ._ '

His mild laughter subsided into a small chuckle that eventually fell into a sigh of relief " **Finally . . . I get to do this my way with no one to tell me otherwise.** "

He looks out through the branches and leaves to see the evening sun slowly nearing the horizon to the west with the Beacon tower next to it, he then went back to his M247 and finishes up his work before sliding the box of ammunition in under the receiver, takes the chain-link belt of 7.62mm Full Metal Jacket Armor-Piercing rounds feeding it into the weapon's receiver, and pulls the charging bolt back loading the first round into the chamber. He flips the safety back on and looks out to the setting sun and the tower next to it, thinking, it's been a while since the last time he's seen a sunset like the one before him, decades in fact. The only thing missing was someone, someone he longed for since he last saw them, he quietly looks over to his side believing for the single moment that that person was sitting next to him enjoying the sunset with him. But much to his misery no one was there to accompany him, and that made him bitter inside, there was no one to be by his side, there never was, and the only thing he could call company was his enemies whether they were alien or human. His sadness turned into anger and he knew who to direct it all upon now, ' _Those damn kids inside the academy . . ._ ' he thinks to himself while clenching a right fist.

It was then at that moment when he looks down at his left arm to see the tac-pad displaying the time which was 5:36 in the afternoon ' _Only a little longer . . . and then it'll be all over_ '. With his equipment primed and ready to go, the SPARTAN-lV stands up to his feet and leaps off the branch falling down to the forest floor below, ready to begin his assault on Beacon Academy.

[8:49 PM, Ozpin's office]

"An AI . . . somehow I shouldn't have been surprised" General Ironwood comments as he frowns at the ORACLE-N Variant scope that sat in Ruby's hands.

"Yes. But what I find unusual is why you haven't told us until now . . ." Ozpin inclines as he sat calmly in his chair.

Ruby had already came up with an explanation, an honest one at that, "We . . . we're afraid that if you knew about him, then his creator would kill him."

"You mean erase?" Ozpin corrects her.

"Yeah . . . sure."

Team RWBY and JNPR were present at the moment along with General Ironwood, Ms. Goodwitch, Mr. Port, and Mr. Oobleck, this was indeed a serious time if everyone was attending this meeting.

"Hmm very odd" Oobleck quickly puts.

The headmaster glances over to his colleague and asks "Doctor Oobleck? Is there something you like to note?"

"Hmm yes indeed. AI technology was first created by the Atlesians about- several decades ago yes- but despite years of technological advances over the years ours still have their faults, no special thought processes, limited intellect, and quite obviously the ability to copy other AIs" he takes a swig from his mug as he approaches Ruby and stares into the lens of the scope "But this has none of those faults . . . showing that this AI is decades beyond what we're capable of- centuries perhaps."

"Thus showing how much more dangerous this UNSC is, but over the thousands of years of expansion and colonization across Remnant, how could there be no word of another faction besides the four kingdoms?" Ironwood states with concern behind his voice.

Goodwitch adds with the same feeling "Whoever these people are, it's more than likely that they present a bigger threat than the Grimm themselves, could we be facing a superpower unlike any other?"

"It's possible . . . but once we find the location of their base, the Atlesian military will swiftly bring their might down upon them like a hammer."

"Oh please General" Ozpin scoffs "What could your men do against a SPARTAN? A single fourth generation has been able to kill nearly a hundred armed soldiers of the White Fang with little to no survivors, what'd you expect the results to be when you're dealing with armies worth? I'll admit even our hunters will have difficulty dealing with them."

The general knew that was a dangerous predicament "While . . . they do have a superior ground force compared to our own. Don't deny the fact that we have the numbers and the ships to help control the skies."

"And what if this UNSC has something in stored for them as well? I have no reason to believe they poured their sweat and blood all into creating the greatest soldier the world has ever known. It's likely they've made advances in other fields as well, we must keep an open mind as of now."

"I . . . I see your point . . ."

Pyrrha steps forward and asks "Why are we talking about war like it's an inevitability? There are diplomatic solutions isn't there?"

That made the adults catch themselves, they were talking about a war when they should be coming up with a way to prevent one in the first place, Ozpin composes himself "Sorry, but as the general would put it, this is a First Contact Scenario with a whole new group we know very little of other than what they have. We don't know what they want, we have no ideas as to where they may be, and we cannot ascertain the full strength of their sovereignty both civilian and military."

"But there's a way of not starting a war right?" Yang asks.

"Well we could always try to open diplomatic communications with the UNSC but, judging from the fact that one of their agents is inside our kingdom causing havoc, I don't think they're in the mood to talk" Goodwitch mentions.

Ozpin then thought of something "Well then, if the UNSC won't come to speaking terms then we'll have to make them. And that means capturing Deimos."

Ironwood was dumbstruck "You want us to capture him!?"

"I'd like for your troops to do their best to incapacitate him with whatever means necessary. If we have him in our custody, that might be enough to bring them into light. I'm sure teams RWBY and JNPR will be more than happy to bring him in to justice."

The hunters and huntresses nodded in agreement, but the headmaster then shifts his eyes to the scope "Ruby? Could you please come over here for a moment?"

Young Rose calmly walks over to Ozpin's desk with little hesitation until she was practically standing in front of him with BB in her hands, he leans in and stares into the lens "You seem awfully quiet for an AI that likes to talk . . ."

There was a moment of silence until the scope chimed and a English voice emanated from it " _I'm not entirely comfortable with meeting new people . . ._ "

"That didn't seem to stop you from introducing yourself to Rose."

" _She seemed harmless . . . enough._ "

The headmaster chuckles "So I see."

General Ironwood comes to Ozpin's side and asks in a voice of respect and authority "What's your mission here in Vale?"

" _To merely study dear General. I have no intentions to see anyone hurt or worse, and if you wondering then no, SPARTAN Deimos is not aware of my existence so far. So it stands likely that he will not bother to retrieve me unless he's notified by his commanding officer._ "

"Well let us hope that it hasn't come to that. For now let's focus on ensuring the safety of the academy an—"

Out of the darkness several bright orange lights bloomed into the night sky all around the campus ground without warning. Everyone inside the headmaster's office quickly rushed their way to the large windows and looked down at the devastation below. Atlesian soldiers and fireballs scattered about the plazas either moving to respond to the attacks or burning away.

General Ironwood was dumbstruck by such an attack on this scale, he quickly turns to Ozpin who was slowly getting up from his chair and asks "How could've he gotten in!? We took every precaution into ensuring the safety of the Academy!"

Ozpin was already up on his feet and cane and started to walk over to the windows stating with his usual calm self "That's because he didn't have to . . ."

He finally reaches the window and looks down at the fire raging on near the Cross Continental Transmit tower, the blaze slowly burning at the side, before he looks to the other areas that had been hit as well.

"He's already inside . . ."

 **Please leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you**


	11. Assault on Beacon

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 10**

 **"** **Assault on Beacon"**

[June 2nd, 2558]

[Beacon Academy, campus grounds]

[9:02 PM]

' _Charges worked flawlessly_ ' Deimos thought as he watched his eight Atlesian-made explosive charges cause mayhem and confusion on a massive scale, soldiers running in every direction heading to each of the sites he placed the charges. Of course none of the buildings were hit, save for the Cross Continental Transmit Tower that only suffered minor damage from a charge he placed on a wall behind a set of thick bushes, and this only served as a mere distraction for him to make his next move. He had been on campus grounds since noon yesterday when he arrived, via a civilian airship that was ferrying in a class of students that had arrived from the Kingdom of Mistral, and he took the time to study the patrol patterns of the increasing Atlesian presence, effectively developing a way to avoid the foot soldiers and patrolling aircraft. With the general's forces in temporary disarray it was time to move, the SPARTAN was lying in wait in in the middle of the dark fields that surrounded the academy, lying in prone position with his active camouflage enabled as he watched soldiers scramble in each direction barking orders.

He steadily stands to his feet with his M247 GPMG in hand and begins making his way to the main building where he figured was the best place to start searching for his targets, moving at a fast pace while keeping his head down despite being invisible to the naked eye. He effortlessly bypassed several soldiers that were rushing to the affected areas and slowly began approaching the amphitheater's front entrance, inside a plaza that connected with the academy's main venue featuring large stone pillars, vast ponds of water that flanked both sides, and a statue of a hunter and huntress standing atop a large rock with a pair of beowolves standing beneath. He had to stop and contemplate about the statue and what it stands for, hope, hope for a future where there is no Grimm to fear from, a future where eternal peace is ensured for all of Remnant. Unfortunately for Remnant that future will not come any time soon, not while he was still breathing.

He turns his attention over to the massive doors that denied him entrance into the building, heavy weight steel that was undoubtedly barricaded by additional metal bars and backed up by a contingent of Atlesian soldiers; this was an easy problem to overcome. He sets his machine gun down by the statue and casually strides over to the door, pulling out a canister full of composition-7 foam explosive, currently in a liquid state in its sealed casing, and gives the canister a good shake before spraying a small portion of it onto where the two doors meet. The C-7, once exposed to the hard metal surface and surrounding oxygen, quickly hardened into a foaming, semi-solid adhesive resin allowing the SPARTAN to essentially glue the canister into place, as well as the rest of the liquid explosive still inside, and run a short electrical cord from it to a detonator that rested in his right hand. He quickly falls back to the statue before picking up his M247 into his left hand and crouch as he flipped the safety cap off the detonator's trigger button and stare at the doors.

He begins to countdown ' _Ten'_.

[9:13 PM, Amphitheater hallway]

Sergeant First Class Ray Ember, along with a platoon of soldiers, were taking aim at the large metal doors that laid about fifteen meters ahead of them from behind a makeshift barricade they hastily put together out of wooden chairs and desks.

The sergeant's ears picked up a voice muttering from his left "You think he's out there?"

Another voice answered back "Yeah I'm pretty sure . . . I heard a thud on the door like somebody was knocking on it . . ."

"Shit man, what're we going to do? If Ironwood is right about how dangerous this guy is-"

"Don't worry about it; it's one of him against fourteen of us. Plus Sarge knows what he's doing otherwise we'd be falling back by now."

Ray blocked out the rest of the conversation from his mind as he signals with his hand to move forward, prompting four AK-200 knights to mantle over the barricade and approach the door. He felt quite fortunate to have Atlas's latest technological soldiers at his side, watching the four androids move with such tactical prowess as they signal to one another which eventually led to two bots on each door preparing to breach and clear the plaza outside.

Another voice spoke from Mondus's right "Those 200s are top of the line gear right there."

One voice asks "You think they'll get the job do—" and that's when it happened.

In a mere instant everything was replaced by a bright flash accompanied by a deafening concussive blast that threw everyone off their feet. Dust and debris rolled over the downed soldiers as they coughed and gasped for the air that was knocked out of them, Ray was among the first few to recover from the explosion and looks up to see the door now reduced to twisted metal with a huge gap in the middle leading to the outside and the AK-200s were nothing more but a memory, due to their close proximity to the door when it was destroyed they were immediately vaporized leaving nothing behind.

Most of the platoon was back on their feet when the coughing and groaning stop, ending the commotion in utter silence. But the silence didn't last when some of them began to make out a single pair of heavy footsteps slowly approaching, Mondus and half of the able soldiers quickly brought their combat rifles to bear. Out of the dust and smoke a single large figure came within sight, albeit still masked by the haze but it was clear that it was carrying a large weapon over its right shoulder, and soon enough the armored being that was Deimos appeared before them carrying what looked like a heavy machine gun loaded with a box magazine underneath.

Ember barked out loud with his rifle trained on the invader's chest "Halt! SPARTAN Deimos you are under military arrest! This is your one chance to come peacefully before force is authorized!"

The SPARTAN silently looked back at the soldiers, counting fourteen of them though few still looked a little dazed from the C-7 but nonetheless able, each one adorned Atlesian standard issue body armor with either blue or red color trimmings to signify their rank while having their rifles all trained on him. It was also noted that none of them showed any expression of fear or curiosity, a few held a sense of nervous anxiety but that was the most they showed from behind their enclosed helmets. Deimos found this quite amusing but yet he had to hand it to them for keeping their heads, unlike their White Fang counterparts.

He couldn't help but chuckle " **I believe you're in no position to start making demands, trooper.** "

"We have you outnumbered! Lay down your arms and surrender yourself!"

" **Is that before or after I kill all of you?** " he then brings his M247 GPMG to bear, holding it down by his chest with the stock just underneath his shoulder, " **Show me what Atlas's best are capable of . . .** "

"Alright you heard 'em! Take him down!" the sergeant barked followed up with a pull of a trigger.

The entire line of soldiers then immediately opened up a barrage of dust-powered energy bolts onto the lone SPARTAN who decided to take it just to measure the damage on his shields. Shot after shot each bolt made their mark against his flickering barrier doing moderate damage until seven rounds into the fight when the shields fell to critical levels, signaling the SPARTAN to return the favor. He immediately ducks and weaves through the next set of incoming fire before dropping to a knee and let off a quick burst of Full Metal Jacket Armor-Piercing rounds into a cluster of three soldiers that were standing to Ray's left, the bullets making short work of the troopers' armor, leaving them falling to the ground either dead or in critical condition.

The soldiers quickly shifted their aim and continued firing but the SPARTAN only took a few more rounds before he leaps back and activate his camouflage, concealing himself from the naked eye.

However his element of stealth was short-lived when Ray ordered "Switch to thermals! Turn on laser sights!"

The soldiers followed their orders, switching their visors to thermal imaging and activating their tactical laser sights attached directly under the rifle's barrel, in mere seconds a web of pinpoint red beams shot out into the settling dust hoping to find their cloaked individual while the troopers' thermals immediately picked up the large bulky figure throwing something at them. Bondus's eyes watched the small object tumble through the air, making out its round body with a small protrusion sticking out of the top, and immediately recognized what it was.

"GRENADE!" he barks out as the device 'pinked' off the floor and rolled into the middle of the cluster of soldiers that covered the right side of the barricade.

Unfortunately the device gave the troopers no time to run for cover when it detonated almost immediately after making contact with the ground, throwing a harsh blast wave followed up with metal pieces of shrapnel in every direction. Ray watched five of his men be thrown into the air by the explosion only to hear a quick burst of gunfire erupt behind him, he turns to see four more of his men be mowed down by armor piercing rounds, now leaving only him and a fellow soldier under his command.

"Sarge!?" the trooper asks frightened by the fact that the entire platoon fell in matter of seconds.

Deimos was now walking through the ravaged barricade with machine gun in hands before stopping three meters in front of the last standing soldiers, Mondus was on the verge of calling a fall back but it would be pointless thinking the SPARTAN would just gun them down as they try to run.

" **Pathetic . . . I suppose this is what I get for taunting the Atlas military. A squad of rookies with a partially competent sergeant.** "

The two soldiers shuddered, trying to think of their first move, but they didn't know what to do with a seven foot killing machine staring them down through a skull-like helmet, that was until the lower ranked individual eventually became bold drawing his standard issue combat sword yelling "For Atlas!" and charge.

Mondus couldn't have done anything to save him when he saw the trooper raise his blade high overhead and swing down in an attempt to gut the SPARTAN like a fish but, in literally mere seconds, Deimos swiftly threw up his right arm letting the blade to collide with his titanium alloy armor, shattering it, and cock his left arm back before shooting out a lethal left uppercut connecting with the man's chin and instantaneously broke his neck all in one blow. The soldier crumpled over like a bag of bricks leaving the sergeant to fend for himself against a freak that wiped out his entire squad, he was preparing himself for the worst when Deimos does the unusual.

" **Don't be an idiot, if an entire platoon of soldiers can't beat me then what in high heaven makes you think you alone have a chance?** "

' _Wait . . . is he giving me the chance to live?_ ' Ray carefully glances at his dead men ' _Shit . . . as much as I want to avenge them, this is suicide_ ' but before he even got a chance to decide a new voice boomed behind him "He has us!"

Deimos looked ahead while Ray turned around to see four young men, three of which adorned in some sort of combat armor reminiscent of the medieval era save for the last one who had a plain green shirt with black pants. Deimos was at first curious while Ray recognized them immediately ' _Aah no . . . not them_.'

" **And who the hell are you?** "

"Name's Cardin Winchester, team leader of Team CRDL, and you got some nerve coming up on our turf."

The SPARTAN started to chuckle finding this cute and amusing as he slaps his machine gun onto his back and push Ray aside " **Oh that's cute. You own this academy then?** "

The unarmored figure stepped up "That's right tall dark and ugly, this is our turf! So unless you want trouble, you better tuck your tail in between your legs and run!"

"Shut it Russel, let me do the talking!" Cardin scolds his friend.

" **Get the hell out of my way or I'll personally send you all on your first honeymoon with the floor, and believe me** " his eyes narrows on them " **There will be results.** "

Russel however couldn't keep his mouth shut for long "Try it! I dare you!"

' _And that's when you realize . . . they royally fucked up_ ' Ray thought in disbelief.

Deimos afterwards gave a small sigh, " **As you wish . . .** "

CRDL readied themselves but they were immediately caught by surprise once the SPARTAN broken into a mad dash barreling straight for them like a runaway train, Sky Lark, one of the lesser members of the team, immediately dove for cover behind Dove Bronzewing, another lesser member, who stood somewhat ready with his shortsword. Cardin was confident and at the ready with his mace and Russel with his pair of daggers but Deimos was already on top of them faster than their eyes could've tracked, the SPARTAN had already launched a right handed blow to Dove's chest, sending him and Sky sprawling onto the floor.

Cardin quickly catches up to speed, finding Deimos to his left, and takes a wide swing with his mace while Russel moves in from the other side with daggers ready to bite and tear, however they could have never estimated the SPARTAN's augmented reflexes. Deimos immediately ducks his head forward, letting the heavy mace to fly past harmlessly, and do a handstand flip backwards avoiding Russel's daggers before following up with a high roundhouse kick to the latter's face sending him into a wall.

Cardin however wasn't giving up that easy just yet, he charges and makes a high swing intending to smash his mace over Deimos's head but the SPARTAN immediately steps to the left and launch a heavy right handed blow to Winchester's face breaking his nose. The team leader grimaces in pain but he didn't let it get in the way when he tries another swing aimed for his opponent's arms, but Deimos was proving to be far superior in every way when he turns himself around, grabs Cardin's swinging arm, and throw the large fellow over his shoulder slamming his back onto the ground where Winchester looks up in time to see the SPARTAN with his right fist cocked back and launch.

Dove was the last member standing, whilst everyone was incapacitated, when he steadily gets back onto his feet and make a lunge for the SPARTAN only to have the blade of his sword grabbed, tossed aside, and his neck immediately seized afterwards followed up with his body being slammed against the wall Russel laid against.

Dove couldn't help but stare at the SPARTAN's black eyeless helmet and claim "M-my father's a lawyer!"

" **Oh well guess what . . .** " Deimos asks as he raises his left fist " **So was mine . . .** " before sending it into Bronzewing's face causing everything to go black.

[9:26 PM, Beacon campus grounds]

Team RWBY and JNPR were making haste heading over to the amphitheater entrance where reports indicated Deimos was, after having lost a squad of soldiers, they couldn't help but look around at all the devastation that was caused not too long ago. Atlesian troops continue to attend to the fires that were set by the explosions while their air support continued scanning the outside perimeter with headlights and thermal imaging.

"Why would he blow up the entire academy just to get at us?" Ren asks as the group continued running.

Pyrrha answered "I don't think that was meant for us, that were to keep the soldiers off his back while he looks for us."

"That's if he hasn't run into Ms. Goodwitch and the others" Blake adds.

They were all aware that Glynda had gone ahead to rally Port and Oobleck behind her and begin their hunt for Deimos, sure they were veterans in their line of work, but some of the students still feared that they might not be enough to last an enduring engagement.

They were nearing the amphitheater entrance when they found that the huge steel doors were blown down by some sort of powerful explosive, when they ventured through they found thirteen dead bodies all with Atlesian hardware on them. All but one was kneeling over trying to understand what on earth happened, Sergeant Ray Ember.

"What happened here?" Jaune asks when they approached the lonely trooper.

"That thing- he just killed them all like they were . . ." his voice trailed off.

Pyrrha kneels down by Ray and gently lays her hand on his shoulder "You did all you could . . ."

But Ember wasn't having it, instead he focuses his attention to something further down the hall "Then Team CRDL showed up and got their asses handed to them . . ."

"Wait, Cardin!?" Yang asks "What're they doing here!? They were supposed to be back at their dorms!"

None of them took the moment to answer that question and rushed further down the hall to find Russel, Dove, and Sky all unconscious but fortunately alive, Cardin however was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Cardin?" Jaune had to ask, only to be answered with distant gunfire echoing through the halls.

"Thirty Lien says he's down that way . . ." Yang remarks.

"C'mon! I'm not missing this!" Ruby cheers feeling the rush of excitement flow through her as she sprints away with everyone else following behind.

[9:37 PM, Amphitheater]

"Get over here!" Cardin roars swinging his mace like a hammer trying to land a single blow on the ever evasive SPARTAN who continued to duck and weave flowingly with no difficulty.

" **The only reason I haven't killed you yet is because this is too hilarious** " Deimos comments as he lets out a small chuckle dodging another swing.

"SHUT UP AND HOLD STILL!"

Winchester quickly swings his mace high in the air and slams it down into the ground, causing the floors ahead of him to crackle and eventually explode in a burst of flames, Deimos leaps out of the way yet again to get a good look at the damage the team leader caused.

" **That's a new one . . .** " before realizing that Cardin had finally made himself a viable threat after so long of humility.

He darts in just as Winchester makes another swing and unloads a right handed blow to the hunter's abdomen followed up with a left handed arm lock, seizing Cardin's mace arm with his own. Cardin attempts to free himself but the SPARTAN held firmly and unleashes another impact against his gut, this time with his left knee guard, and immediately grab a firm hold on his neck with his right hand.

" **Lack of discipline and coordination, most distasteful. You've already taken up enough of my time as it is, I'll gladly end this little game right now** " Deimos states as he hooks his right foot around Cardin's left and trips him sending the hunter falling onto the ground while the SPARTAN still had a hold of his right arm before planting his left armored foot against Winchester's cheek and begun to pull at his arm.

Cardin yelled out in pain the more the SPARTAN pulled, intending to give the hunter a rather painful end, until a shot burst of red energy zips past his helmet and slams into the wall behind him with explosive effect. Deimos grinned as he recognized the energy burst and looks up to see Yang Xiao Long, with smoke trailing from one of her shot gauntlets, and company forming up behind her and Ruby.

" **Finally. A damn challenge** " the super soldier acknowledges as he lets go of Cardin and steps over him to greet the two teams of hunters he's been hoping to see.

However the moment didn't last very long when the doors in front of the two teams immediately slams shut denying both parties a fight they've been itching for, Deimos found it odd that the doors had an orange hue to them until a woman's voice called out with a soothing if not unsettling tone "Flattering to know you see us that way . . ."

He turns his head to the left and finds three individuals standing at the mouth of a hallway that stretched right from the main amphitheater, two females and one male, staring back at him. The first figure, the male, showed grey spiking hair, grey eyes, dark grey armored pieces covering his upper and forearms, grey and black two-tone zip jacket, black pants and boots. It was also noted that he carried no obvious weapon. The second figure was a young woman with a dark tan, mint green hair, and mischievous red eyes. She sported an intricate, exotic-looking white top with a olive undershirt, white pants with brown chaps hanging down to her calves and an overlong belt wrapping around her waist twice with what appears to be a holster located at the back. Deimos easily made out two revolver-like handguns in her hands, possibly low in caliber but nonetheless devastating. Then there was the last one, also a female but seems more mature in age compared to the others, with her ashen-black hair and bright amber eyes. She wore a beige leather, sleeveless jacket with bandages covering her chest and hips, a pauldron on her left shoulder, grey pants with matching boots, and a belt around her waist that carries multiple pouches. The SPARTAN saw no recognizable weapons on her but definitely noticed that her right hand was raised to the closed door with the similarly colored hue around it.

" **Yet another batch of young inexperienced students decides it's a good idea to take on a soldier that had gone through rigorous training and live combat situations . . . your kind never seems to give up** "

"Thanks, we try our best" the grey figure smirked with his arms crossed.

The SPARTAN takes one step towards them but the green haired individual takes a step aiming her dual revolvers at him "Ah ah ah . . ." causing him to momentarily stop.

" **Cute.** "

"D-Did you just call me cute!?" she asks as if she was insulted.

" **Is there a problem?"** his voice began to raise a little.

"Perhaps a little introduction is in order, before we start our little party" the dark-haired woman suggests, she then gestures to her left towards the boy "Mercury Black" then to her right "Emerald Sustrai."

" **And yours?** "

She gave a light grin "Not important . . . what is important is that we have a business proposition for you."

Deimos was immediately caught off guard, ' _A business proposition?_ ', " **What kind of proposition are we talking about?** "

"How about you come over here and we'll talk in private . . ."

The SPARTAN seemingly lowered his guard and began to calmly walk over to the three, everything felt calm until the enigmatic woman nods to her two known companions signaling them to attack.

Emerald immediately took aim and fired her weapons, one after the first, sending large caliber rounds downrange and impacting against the soldier's shields in such a rapid succession that depleted the shields in seconds, something only covenant-made plasma weapons were capable of at the time. Mercury however quickly zips in and lands a heavy roundhouse kick against the SPARTAN's chest, which was then enhanced by his unique greaves that caused a secondary blast effect much like Yang's gauntlets, and sends the half ton super soldier flying halfway through the amphitheater before crashing down onto the floor.

Deimos steadily stands back up to his feet, standing tall and strong seemingly unscathed by the duo's attacks, and immediately charges back towards Black with his thrusters giving him extra velocity only taking seconds before closing the gap and launch a right handed fist towards Mercury's face. Black swiftly ducks to his left before darting forward, where he was standing behind the seven foot soldier, and makes a low kick to the back of the SPARTAN's knee where the impact forces him to fall onto one knee. But Deimos was surprisingly quick to recover when he goes for his combat knife and immediately makes a right swing behind him, forcing Black to jump away, before getting back up to his feet and begin his attack.

He immediately sheathes his knife away before throwing up his fists like a professional martial arts fighter, lightly and swiftly skipping his way to Mercury, and quickly throws up a right uppercut followed by a left side kick which the hunter merely sidesteps out of the fist's trajectory and duck below the oncoming kick. He continues his assault with rapid right jab, catching his opponent's left rib cage, followed up with a left hook, to which Mercury ducks under, and ends it with a low leg sweep, which Black merely jumps over and sends his right foot smashing into the SPARTAN's faceplate.

The next instant became a fast paced scene of kicks, punches, and deflects faster than what a normal human's eyes can keep track of, Emerald could've sworn she saw Mercury perform a butterfly kick and Deimos immediately block both feet, even the mysterious woman was impressed by Deimos's reflex time in between Mercury's rapid attacks and she was wondering what his finishing move would be. Then as if by command, it happens.

Mercury leaps into the air, after dodging the SPARTAN's attempt at a low left jab, and comes back down swinging a right axe kick ready to finish this little ordeal up until suddenly Deimos sidesteps out of the way, seize Black's right foot by the back of his ankle with his left hand, and firmly stomp his right foot on the hunter's left foot effectively immobilizing him.

Mercury then watched the SPARTAN cock back his right fist, quickly realizing where he was going to strike next, and quickly pleaded "No. No. No-no-no-no!"

[Hallway]

Yang and Nora were bashing away at the closed door, attempting to break in and take on Deimos, when they suddenly heard what they assumed was bone crushing blow followed up with a woman's shriek in pain.

Ruby had confused look on her, confident that it was only Cardin inside the room other than the SPARTAN, and asks so naively "Was that a girl?"

[Amphitheater]

Emerald cringed as she saw Mercury double over with his two hands over his crotch, Black asks with a higher pitched voice "He. Punched me in the dick . . ." he looks up to the SPARTAN standing over him "Why. Why would you punch me in the dick?"

Deimos couldn't help but chuckle at Mercury's misery before a bullet projectile strikes the side of his helmet, leaving a graze mark in the titanium armor, causing him to stagger for a second before growling as he turns to see Sustrai with her dual revolvers.

The huntress sighed to herself "Don't send an idiot to do a woman's job" just seconds before Deimos begins to approach her forcing her to fire off several rounds.

The projectiles ricochet off of the SPARTAN's armor, but still caused him to recoil back in some places where they hit, until seconds later Deimos fades into the background. Emerald carefully scans her surroundings, looking for anything that moves or seems out of place, but she couldn't see anything other than her partner on the floor and her leader carefully looking as well. It was too late by the time she found him.

" **Too slow** " Deimos claims as he materializes into view to Emerald's left, seizing her wrist, and deal a hard hitting blow with the bottom end of his M6C magnum to the top of her head with such speed and ferocity.

Sustrai fell to the floor in a semi-conscious state while the SPARTAN simply kicks her two weapons away before facing the unnamed lady that stood idly with her arms crossed and a grin across her face. Deimos silently walked towards her, as he takes out and flips out his foldable tomahawk sharpened and ready for kill.

"Very impressive . . ." the woman compliments with a slow hand clap as Deimos draws closer.

The SPARTAN soon came within several feet of her before he swung his tomahawk high and bring it down in an attempt to kill her swiftly but, much to his amazement, the woman immediately drawn a pair of long dark curved swords, each featuring a broad blade with multiple cutting edges made of glass, out of a sudden burst of flames before throwing them up to block the swinging axe. Deimos was amazed to see how durable the glass blades were if they were able to withstand a strike from a titanium-carbide ceramic blade, but he didn't let it distract him as he pulls back, drawing his magnum, and immediately fire four rounds at her. The woman quickly threw her two blades, both vanishing in another puff of smoke, before she effectively stops each 12.7mm SAP-HP round with the palm of her hand that showed an orange glowing glyph similar to what Weiss used during the night at the pizzeria.

"Surprised?" the woman asks with that confident grin of hers.

Deimos was hesitant but he growls " **Hasn't stopped me yet . . .** " before holstering his magnum and makes a speedy uppercut with his tomahawk.

As expected, the woman brought her two swords back into use out of thin air and blocked the incoming attack once more. Unfortunately Deimos was in no mood to waste his time with this woman regardless of any proposition and withdraws his tomahawk for another attack for the head to which she blocks again but this time the two were locked in, unable to move away from one another.

The SPARTAN began pressing against the woman with his augmented strength, forcing her to kneel down a bit, " **You almost had me with that fake proposition deal . . .** "

"Oh it wasn't fake" the woman replied as she tried to hold her ground "I just wanted to be sure you were right for the job . . . looks like you're the kind of man I'm looking for."

" **And what makes you think I'll just work for you?** "

"Because we both share a common goal, to watch this world burn to the ground."

It was then when she looks over the SPARTAN's shoulder to see three individuals coming from the left hallway before turning back to him "So what will it be?"

Deimos briefly thought about his situation and his choices, he was already abandoned by the UNSC and now there was a woman who wants to see the world burn as he does, he then carefully looks into her amber eyes and just like that, he made his decision. She somehow knew and eventually eases her strength, allowing the SPARTAN to push further, and close her eyes as if she was waiting for something. And the next moment, Deimos withdraws and throws a heavy back fist, slamming into the woman's cheek sending her crashing into the wall behind her now seemingly unconscious, ' _Clever bitch, she wanted me to knock her out . . ._ ' he thinks to himself before turning to see the three new challengers.

The first of three was a woman, blonde hair tied in a bun, green eyes with a pair of glasses, wore a white long sleeved suit, black business skirt, black boots, and what looks like a riding crop in her right hand.

Her calm demeanor and posture showed Deimos that she was strict in her average life and has zero tolerance for any sort of insubordination or undisciplined behavior; she then raised her crop at him and spoke with a voice of authority "I believe you have some explanations to make."

" **I didn't get a name, that's rather impolite** " the SPARTAN retorted.

"Says the man who killed a squad of soldiers and beaten two teams, but if you insist, it's Glynda Goodwitch."

" **Goodwitch . . . I believe I heard the name before**. **Back when you tried to reinstall the old leadership of the White Fang, before things turned violent** " he recollects.

The huntress was utterly surprised someone like him knew about that "H-how did you know that? That was nearly five years ago."

" **I've been around Remnant for a very long time, a decade if you want to be precise, and I was there when you tried to speak with the former leadership to retain their power and continue their peaceful ways. Sadly things didn't turn out the way you wanted to did it?** "

"You didn't have anything to do with the change of leadership did you?" she asks, her voice becoming harsh and spiteful despite the calm tone.

" **I had nothing to do with the change, but those high up the chain of command believed this will make my activities less known compared to the open acts of terrorism the faunus species was causing** " Goodwitch shot him a distrustful glare prompting him to put his left hand on his chest and right hand in the air " **Scout's word . . .** "

He then notice the second figure, a tall young fellow with green messy hair, white opaque glasses, white shirt half tucked into his dark green pants to go along with his mismatched brown and black shoes and yellow tie, steps forward and assess what he had heard, his voice sped off like a hyperactive dog "But wait- that's practically impossible! You sir Deimos are far more older than a mere decade, probably three decades old perhaps. And it's curious you would use the term 'Remnant' rather than a specified kingdom or region- not to mention your armor, weapons, and alleged augmentations are far beyond what even the Atlesian military can- oh . . . my Grimm."

Glynda could sense the unbelievable amount of fear roaring up inside of her colleague, she couldn't help but turn to him, seeing his mouth slightly ajar as he realizes something terrible, "Bartholomew- what is it?" she asks regrettably.

"I'm afraid we've been dealing with something far more larger than a mere kingdom or organization and Deimos is something far more than a mere soldier . . . he's not from this world."

The professors all silently turned back to the SPARTAN, who was starting to laugh out loud, and Deimos gladly adds to their sudden fear " **Oh you're quite the perceptive one, professor, and you're correct. You're not dealing with a mere organization or kingdom; you've stumbled onto the works of an inter-stellar empire . . .** "

The trio stood there listening attentively as Deimos began pacing back and forth, keeping his eyes on them, " **Planets, colonies, naval battlegroups that can travel faster than the speed of light, vast armies numbering in the billions. Humanity is at the peak of its power since the end of our Great War and we are only becoming stronger.** "

He watches the short fat man in the burgundy suit ask in bewilderment "How is that possible!? The Atlesians are the leading developers of technology, how could you be so far ahead than us if we're the same race!?"

" **There's several theories to that question fat man, but it's safe to say we can rule those out due to the lingering presence of grimm and the faunus.** "

"What is it do you really want here?" Goodwitch asks reaffirming her sense of calm after the big reveal.

The SPARTAN lets out a small chuckle as he reaches back for the M247 on his back " **How about we discuss this at a later time . . . I'm itching for a fight and you'll do for now until those children breaks through those doors.** "

Professor Port gladly steps forward with his blunderbuss axe in hand "I will happily oblige your request, mostly because you called me overweight."

" **I could've called you a hippo, I was being nice** " before aiming his machine gun and open fire from the hip.

The sudden volley of armor piercing rounds came fast within an instant but Goodwitch was faster, with a single wave of her crop she developed a large glowing glyph in front of her and her two companions, effectively stopping the high velocity projectiles in mid-air. Then with another wave she immediately rips the GPMG right out of the SPARTAN's hands, seconds before it became disassembled in mere moments right before his eyes. Every individual piece fell down like rain in front of him; he watched them clatter against the floor astonished knowing this huntress was something entirely different than what he had dealt with before.

However he did not let this deter him from accomplishing what he came here to do, eliminate RWBY and JNPR as well as any other opposition that stood in the way, including these three. He immediately brings out his tomahawk and charges towards the trio with superb agility, he watches as the two men flanking Goodwitch deployed their own weapons, Port taking aim with his blunderbuss and Oobleck readying what appears to be a metallic torch with a lit flame. The two professors then took aim and fired off a small barrage of balls of fire traveling at a relatively high velocity but, through the use of augmented reflexes and maneuverability, the SPARTAN was able to dodge and weave through the incoming fire and come within striking distance of the three.

Deimos swiftly takes a right handed uppercut with his tomahawk towards Glynda who immediately steps out of the way allowing Port to strike with his own axe. The SPARTAN rolls under the hunter's blade, coming up behind the professor, and deal a hard roundhouse kick to the back, sending Port crashing onto the ground, seconds before Oobleck lunges with his kanabo. Deimos instinctively reacts by throwing up his axe to block the hit, which was successful, and forced the two into a brief lock before the SPARTAN drew his combat knife in his left hand in a reversed grip and raise it high before swinging down intending to drive the blade into his opponent's neck. However Oobleck was just as fast he was, leaping back in time to miss the blade, and fires a shot square into the attacker's chest, destroying his shields outright and leaving him exposed to their attacks.

Glynda takes the opportunity to conjure up a purple hued orb of pure energy that eventually lashes out with multiple claw-like appendages immediately lunging at the ever elusive SPARTAN who began to duck and weave through their attempts to grab him. Deimos didn't have any possible way to counter the huntress's attacks however he is not without his cunning intellect, he sheathes his combat knife in exchange for his M6C, and bolts for Goodwitch herself with his magnum raised and firing. Glynda attempts to dodge the incoming rounds without disrupting her manifestation spell, but it was a difficult challenge already, until the seven foot sociopath came into striking distance and makes a high swing with his axe. The huntress leans backwards, letting the blade pass over her harmlessly at the cost of losing her spell, and swiftly with another wave of her crop she essentially slams the SPARTAN face first into the floor with sheer force from her semblance, telekinesis. Despite the sudden show of such power, this was what Deimos was planning on.

He reaches out with his right arm, seizing Glynda's right ankle, yanks her foot from underneath her causing her to topple over while jumping back up to his feet at the same time just seconds before Port closes the gap between them and makes a wide swing for the SPARTAN's neck.

However Deimos ducks his head below the blade, muttering " **Too slow** ", and perform a clean leg sweep causing the veteran hunter to fall over on top of Goodwitch leaving only Oobleck as the last man standing.

He then begins to taunt the teacher as he starts to approach him steadily " **You're the intellectual here so answer me this. Your compatriots are incapacitated, there is no help coming at the moment, and an opponent that clearly outclasses your skills is closing in for the kill, what will you do?** "

The professor didn't give it much thought "Well if I were in those conditions- which I clearly am- then I would merely wait for the right moment, which should be in three seconds."

The SPARTAN scoffed " **And what makes you thin-** " that's when he felt a finger tap on his left shoulder causing him to stop immediately and sigh.

He calmly turns around just to see Team RWBY and JNPR all standing behind him armed and ready to fight, more importantly he finds Yang standing right in front of him with that confident grin she always carries into a fight.

She gives a subtle "Sup" before her right gauntleted fist shot out like a bullet, colliding with the SPARTAN's faceplate, causing the half-ton soldier to sprawl through the air until smashing down onto the floor right at the mouth of the left hall.

He steadily stands back up and faces the two teams of students and their recovering team of professors, ten hunters against one SPARTAN.

He watches Glynda fix her glasses back up to her eyes before raising her crop at him once more demanding "This is your last chance to come peacefully . . . do the smart thing and turn yourself in."

Deimos cautiously assessed the situation, heavily outnumbered and outgunned, not to mention outclassed in some aspects, and carefully laid out his next plan.

" **That's not going to happen . . .** " he replies as he pulls out a flashbang from one of his chest pouches with his thumb through the pin.

The two stared at one another intensively, eyes to faceplate, before the SPARTAN pulls the pin and tosses the grenade up into the air over their heads, Blake watched the device tumble through the air as she called out "Look away!" a split second before the grenade detonates.

The blinding light and ear splitting blast caught the professors and Team JNPR by surprise, the group having never encountered such a weapon, but the three of RWBY were able to look away and cover their ears in time to spare themselves from its effects. After the light subsided immediately after detonation, Ruby looks back up to see the SPARTAN fleeing the scene running into the hallway heading away from the amphitheater and she rallies Yang and Blake behind her before beginning their pursuit.

Deimos was easily running at a steady thirty four miles per hour, aided by his augmented body and afterburners built into his armor, zipping past hallway intersections in mere seconds but the girls were keeping pace much to his surprise, in fact they were slowly closing the gap and it wouldn't be long before he'll be forced to engage them. He was quickly coming up at a 'T' intersection and he only had a few seconds to decide on which direction before he quickly takes a right and traveled down a further eighty meters before a fireteam of Atlesian soldiers appeared into an intersection ahead of him.

One trooper looks to his left just in time to see the oncoming dark giant and call out "Contact! Nine 'o clock!"

The other soldiers quickly formed a firing line and open fired but the SPARTAN also drew his dual M7 Submachine Guns and let loose a hellish hailstorm of 5mm caseless Full Metal Jacket rounds, the armor piercing rounds viciously tearing into the soldiers' armor and bodies sending them crumpling to the ground, before swiftly turning around and empty the rest of his two sixty-round magazines towards the pursuing huntresses.

"Whoa!" Ruby yelped as she and her teammates dove for cover behind stone pillars that lined the walls of the academy, the bullets slowly chipping away at their smooth finish.

It wasn't long until the last of the SPARTAN's ammunition has been expended, prompting him to eject his empty magazines and begin the reloading process. Yang took the opportunity to come out of cover and walk towards Deimos much against the protest of her sister and partner, knowing this is likely the only chance she'll have at her rematch with the SPARTAN.

Deimos shortly finishes up inserting two fresh clips into their respectful slots again before taking aim just to see the blonde huntress walking towards him, now about twelve meters out, and decides to holster his weapons and meet her half way.

The two opponents approached each other until they both came to a stop facing one another, the hot-blooded beauty against the cold-hearted beast.

Yang silently looked up at Deimos with her carefree grin, while he stared back through his faceless helmet, before she asks "Hi Honey, miss me?"

The SPARTAN growled briefly before it turned into a full blown roar " **RAAAAGH!** " as he cocked back his right arm and shot it out like a rocket aimed for her head.

However she ducks below it and passes him before she playfully asks "Oh c'mon babe don't be like that. Was it something I said?"

Deimos shot back at her with a swung left elbow with unprecedented speed but Long quickly skips out of the way "C'mon I was only playing! Let's kiss and make up."

He turns to her and makes a swift right uppercut, she merely steps out of the way, followed up with a left hook that ultimately ended in failure when she shot up her right hand and firmly grasped his fist effectively stopping it just inches from her face. Deimos cursed himself moments before he watched her give a flirty wink before throwing out her left fist in a fast uppercut impacting the SPARTAN's abdomen, her _Ember Celica_ firing a secondary blast that sent the half ton soldier sky rocketing into the ceiling before coming back down. The super solider quickly springs back into action throwing a right jab, that caught her by her left shoulder joint, followed up with a quick axe kick, bringing his armored foot down on top of her head, causing her to recoil back in pain but all the more thrilled.

She steps back into the brawl and makes a right hook towards his head but he quickly deflects the blow with his left forearm which she followed up with multiple left jabs straight into his exposed bodysuit, causing him to grunt in pain after each blow. Five devastating strikes into the attack and Deimos attempts to break her assault by breaking her hold on him, forcibly throwing her arms off him, and deliver a head splitting head smash, slamming his helmet against her forehead with sheer force. The head bash left Yang staggering back dazed for the briefest moment before she gets her footing back just to receive a fierce right uppercut into her gut followed up with a hard hitting left side kick into her torso.

The kick sends her smashing face first into a nearby wall, the SPARTAN then grabs her by her long flowing hair and yanks her out of the wall before using her as a flail and send her crashing into the ground face first yet again. He lets go of her hair, finding a few blonde strands in his hands before shaking it off, and turns to approach Ruby and Blake who were standing at a distance with their weapons drawn.

" **Which one of you is next?** " he asks as he unlatches his tomahawk.

"You really shouldn't have done that" Blake retorts.

" **And what are you going to do about it?** "

Ruby answers rather casually as if she's no longer concerned "Not us . . . her."

Deimos immediately halts himself, hearing the bits of ceramic flooring shifting behind him, and in one single motion he twirls himself around launching a left handed fist but it was immediately caught within Yang's right hand.

"Hey" she asks as she looks at him dead in the eye "Wanna see something cool?"

The SPARTAN maintains his sense of confidence " **The funny thing is I know you're playing me. But I do.** "

At that instant her gorgeous lilac eyes turned blood red and her blonde soft hair began to radiate with extreme heat as if they were practically on fire, Deimos tries to free himself by pulling back his left arm but now her grip was nigh unbreakable. '. . . _Fuck . . ._ ' his last thought was to himself.

Yang lets out a defiant cry as she cocks back her right arm and sends it darting straight for the SPARTAN's helmet, the impact felt like a Jiralhanae had just smashed a gravity hammer right in his face just seconds before _Ember Celica_ activated its secondary blast, Deimos figured this might as well have been a M12 Warthog slamming into him at full speed, and sends the half ton soldier hurtling down the hallway. Rose and Belladonna quick skipped out of the way as the soldier soars right past them skidding across the floor before coming to a full stop, he steadily gets back up onto his feet just to see the scorching blonde charge towards him at a high velocity, instantly passing her two teammates, with her right fist cocked back all the way and her voice crying out for payback.

Her gauntleted hand shoots out with unbelievable speed but the augmented SPARTAN was just a few seconds ahead of her in terms of reflexes however it didn't stop her from launching a left uppercut that impacted against his lower torso sending him staggering back, getting the feeling as if though he just lost his lunch. He manages to put several feet between himself and the bad-tempered teen and draws one of his SMGs into his right hand, taking aim, but the huntress quickly swipes it away, sending the compact weapon skittering across the ground, before she sends a right hook slamming against the side of his helmet.

The SPARTAN recoils back even further, running out of options to counter Yang's relentless assault, when she closes the distance again and grabs him by the side of his head and smashes it into the wall. Deimos was able to pry himself out of it before receiving a left hook to the head followed up with a harsh right knee into the gut and finally a right backhand that sent him into the other wall, ' _That's the last straw_ ' he said to himself frustratingly.

He pushes himself out of the wall once more in time to catch Yang throwing a right handed fist before ducking below it and deliver a left open-palm fist to her side, the sudden retaliation catches her by surprise, with a clean sweep of her leg causing her to fall over. However she quickly leaps back into action throwing a hard hitting right side kick, he was able to block it by throwing up his left knee letting it take the hit, and a quick left high kick, which he deflects with his right arm brace, before the SPARTAN forcibly kicks her away sending her crashing onto the ground face first.

He wasn't about to let up one instant as he walks over and stomps his left foot down on top of her head but his moment of superiority did not last once a bullet fired from Blake's pistol shout out and struck him in the right shoulder mere seconds before she and Ruby came within melee distance.

He swiftly skips backwards, dodging Ruby's first attempt at a swing with her scythe, and draws his tomahawk into his right hand and his combat knife in his left in a reversal grip " **Round two . . .** " he mutters.

Ruby dashes in with Blake following close behind, Rose makes a high swing with her scythe forcing the SPARTAN to duck below the blade just as Belladonna makes a low swipe for the legs with her sword and cleaver-like sheath but Deimos was still quick on the ball when he dives over the two blades and come up behind them. The super soldier then readied his two weapons before lunging at Ruby, who was arguably closer than Blake, and makes a scissor-like cut with both blades but young Rose quickly leaps back opening up a shot for Belladonna.

Blake fires a rapid three round burst from her pistol, striking Deimos's titanium alloy plating to minimal effect, before she dashes in and performs a quick butterfly kick, both feet slamming against the SPARTAN's head and chest, forcing him to stagger back before holstering his weapons. He comes back around swinging a right fist but the huntress effortlessly ducks below the hit and lunges forward with her sheath, however this became her worst mistake when the super soldier leans out of the way and seizes her left arm with his own.

With half of his augmented strength Deimos vaulted the 5'6 girl over himself as he smashes her down into the floor in front of him like a sledgehammer, knocking the air out of her, and rendering her momentarily out of the action. With the sudden sheer force of power the SPARTAN exerted, the heavy impact knocked her black ribbon loose letting it to fall off and reveal her cat-like ears at the top of her head.

Deimos was seemingly surprised " **A faunus? Your team is full of surprises . . .** "

"Blake!" Rose cries out before leaping to action, taking a sudden charge and slash at the SPARTAN forcing him to back away from her downed teammate.

" **Finally, I get to kill you and your friends** " Deimos claims with a light chuckle, but it was becoming obvious to her that he was starting to breathe heavily as a sign of exhaustion.

"Why!? Why are you doing this- what did we ever do to you!?"

" **Why?** **Because you stuck your noses where it didn't belong. You could've let me walk away after the Pizzeria was destroyed, you could've prevented-** " he gestures with open arms to everything around him "- **all of this.** "

"Then what's the point of getting rid of us!? How will this even help you!?"

" **Normally I'd say I'm following orders to make sure you're no longer in the way. But recent events made it abundantly clear that orders are no longer a factor.** "

Rose seemed to ease up a bit, now confused by what he's trying to say, "What do you mean?"

" **My commanding officer left me here for dead because I was a little . . . eccentric in my work, if not a little excessive.** "

"You mean the docks and the warehouse?"

The sociopathic SPARTAN chuckled " **It's good to know you're not as stupid as I thought you were. Attention isn't my kind's strongsuit so they tend to stay under the radar, what I've done made them a little upset. But I suppose I'm not too angry with them, they believe they left me here with no way to return home, but I** ** _am_** **home. A monster in a world of monsters. I should thank them.** "

"Then why are you still doing this if no one is ordering you?"

He sighs " **There's the stupid little girl I knew back at the warehouse. I'm not doing this because somebody told me to, I'm not doing this because it's what I was trained for** " he points his thumb at himself " **I'm doing this for me.** "

Now realizing that this was now a revenge ordeal, Rose knows she needs to get this man away from Yang and Blake as soon as possible as fast as possible, but he continues with a wave of a finger " **You know, the moment I saw those silver eyes I felt I've seen you from somewhere before . . .** "

"We've never met."

" **That's what I thought too. But something is telling me otherwise.** "

The two fell into a brief moment of silence before he shrugs " **I suppose it won't matter in the next few minutes** " he takes his M6C magnum into his right hand and takes aim " **You'll be nothing but a fading memory once we're finished here.** "

At that moment he begins to squeeze the trigger and Rose readies herself for another brawl, but they were both taken by surprise when a new voice firmly calls out from behind the SPARTAN "You will not hurt my friends!"

Deimos swings around just in time for a sword to spear through his left lower torso, causing a tremendous amount of pain as he roars out in shock. He firmly grasps the blade, noticing a long black string attached to the hilt, before it was suddenly and forcibly ripped from his body back to its place of origin. His eyes follows the sword back to a young girl with short orange curly hair with a pink bow at the back of her head, green eyes, an old-fashioned blouse with short feminine overalls, a black and green collar around her neck along with a matching set of stockings.

The SPARTAN couldn't help but feel the wound the girl inflicted on him, seeing blood all over his left hand after placing it against the fresh cut, and give sharp cough up as the injury began to take its toll.

However he was still able to keep going for only a little longer, " **And who the hell are you?** " he asks as he tries to stand tall and strong.

"Salutations" the girl responded rather robotically "My name is Penny Polendina, and you are no friend of Ruby Rose."

The SPARTAN could see the agitation in Penny's eyes " **Oh don't mind me, little Rose and I were just catching up.** "

Ruby quickly cries out "Penny get out of here!"

But Penny held steadfast "I'm not leaving you Ruby. I'll defeat Deimos!"

" **You'll die trying . . .** " Deimos retorted just as Penny prepares herself for battle.

At that moment multiple grey identical swords appeared from out of Penny's back, all being manipulated by an unseen force, and gathered around her forming a spiraling formation, Deimos saw this as a mere intimidation act. He quickly raises his magnum up to her and begins pulling the trigger sending round after round downrange but each semi-armor-piercing round was intercepted and deflected by the girl's array of swords with little effort.

"This is your last chance to turn yourself in!" Polendina demands as the swords kept her protected.

" **I've already told Goodwitch, I'm not going to let that happen** " he replies as he holsters his magnum in exchange for the dual SMGs that were fully loaded.

He brings both weapons up to chest height and open fires, sending a horrendous barrage of automatic gunfire downrange, forcing Penny to immediately go on the defensive as she guides her swords into blocking as many rounds as possible. Deimos didn't let up on either trigger as the volley of 5mm AP rounds slowly began to overwhelm the huntress's defenses until both SMGs ran dry, he was rather shocked by the following results.

Out of the one hundred and twenty rounds that were fired at a high rate of fire, only twenty one had made it past Penny's swords, and only thirteen of those rounds have made their mark. Ruby watched in horror as the swords one by one clattered against the floor, she found that each of those rounds have torn through her friend's body with high lethality that even a fully grown Beowolf couldn't survive, and soon enough Penny fell to one knee before eventually falling over onto her side motionless.

"PENNY!" Ruby cried out in fear, tears running from her eyes.

Deimos holsters the SMGs as his eyes focuses on each of the wounds that he inflicted, rather than seeing human blood he finds an unusual blackish green substance stained in her blouse, " **An android? Impressive . . .** "

He catches sight of Ruby racing past him towards Penny before she falls to a knee and holds up Penny in her arms, "Penny! You're going to be alright!"

' _Time to go_ ' he told himself before his body slowly fades away into the background, just as Yang woke up from her brief unconsciousness and Blake was slowly getting back on her feet.

Long quickly searches around hoping to find the SPARTAN but instead found Rose wailing over Penny's body "Ruby!?" she calls out as she rushes over to her.

Blake was soon standing on her own again as she ties her black ribbon back over her cat ears and runs over to their emotionally wrecked teammate, it was by this time that a squad of five Atlesian soldiers were approaching from the direction Penny came from.

"What happened!?" Yang asks frantically.

"Ma'am I need you all to step back!" the squad leader orders as he and two of his men try to separate RWBY from Penny while the remaining two began working on Polendina's body.

"What why!?" Ruby protested.

"- I still got a pulse!" one of the medics reports.

"Get something we can use as a stretcher!" the other orders.

"Is she going to be alright!?" Ruby asks hoping for a miracle at this point.

The sergeant answers "We'll do what we can Ma'am, but for now you need to let us do our jobs."

Blake urged the two to let the troopers be "C'mon, we still have to stop Deimos before he causes any more of this."

"Blake's right Ruby, we have to let them care to Penny . . ."

Rose didn't want to leave her friend like this but her team was right, they needed to stop the marauding SPARTAN from causing any more damage, she reluctantly nods her head in agreement before following them down the hall.

[June 3rd, 2556]

[12:13 AM]

SPARTAN Deimos was approaching the outskirts of the campus grounds where he came to a tree and slumped down against it, the physical task of taking on multiple teams of hunters and soldiers had proven to be more than enough for his body. Combined with the sheer exhaustion was his wound that hindered his combat efficiency, fortunately thanks to his cardiovascular augmentations during the procedure his blood was able to clot faster sealing up the wound faster than an average human.

' _Out of all the damage done today, two squads and a damn android is all I could do? No. I need make one last strike, one that would shake those brats to their core . . ._ ' he speaks to himself but he couldn't decide on what his next target would be, RWBY and JNPR will be too much for him with their combined strength, the headmaster and the general would be closely guarded by an entire regiment of soldiers which was something he didn't have time for. Then it came to him.

' _Schnee . . ._ '

He needed to take out Weiss, doing so would not only cause traumatic damage to those close to her but it would also send a devastating ripple effect through the Schnee family and company. He looks around from where he sat and quickly found the academy's dorm building several hundred meters from where he was, he painstakingly got up to his feet despite their cries for rest, and started making his way there under the cover of the midnight sky and his active camouflage.

[12:43 AM, Dorms]

Deimos was nearing the front entrance of the dorm building, only consisting of a pair of wooden doors that were unlocked for reasons beyond him, as he ventures inside he finds himself in a narrow dark hallway with a series of doors on both sides, each with a number labeled above them, and begins making his way through reading each number as he went by. The building was near dead silent were it not for his heavy footsteps and the muttering coming from various rooms, each with a concerned voice going on about what has happened tonight.

' _I don't have time to go room to room . . ._ ' he stops and thinks to himself, it was only a brief moment later when he glances at a door to his right ' _There's always option B . . ._ '

He approaches the door and grasps the door handle, giving it a jiggle prompting the students inside to fall silent, before realizing the door had an identification lock installed. He takes a step back before raising his right armored foot and slams it against the wooden frame, knocking it clean off its hinges and sending crashing down with a harsh sound. The silence was immediately met with a brief cry of fright before settling to a whimper as the seven foot armored giant stepped in and found four young students scared half out of their minds, all hiding in the far left corner of the room huddled together.

" **Give me Weiss Schnee's room number, and I won't kill you** " the SPARTAN asks in a threatening tone.

One of the students, a young boy with purple eyes and brown hair, asks "How do we know you're not just going to do it if we tell you!?"

" **Because I don't see the point in plastering a bunch of sniveling children against the walls unless they start asking questions. Give me the number.** "

At that moment footsteps was heard behind him and a voice called out from the doorway "Freeze!"

But Deimos was too fast as he swung around, drawing his magnum, and quickly shot a round into a soldier's head causing him to reel back and fall over. A second trooper was noticed and he began to ran only to receive a bullet to his left leg calf sending him crashing down to the floor.

The SPARTAN walks out of the room and grabs the surviving soldier by his neck and holds him high above the ground " **You seem like a rational man, give me the number of Ms. Schnee's room and I'll let you and the kids live.** "

"Bite me!" the man barked as he launches a right fist into the SPARTAN's lower torso, right where his wound was.

He grimaced in pain before he sends his own fist into the man's gut and slams him face first into the ground before pulling him up to his knees, seeing a drip of blood leaving the man's face as he gasped for air, " **What was that?** " he asks in a much more threatening tone.

"201 . . . she's i- Room 201 . . ." the soldier responded weakly.

" **That's a good soldier, enjoy living knowing you failed to protect the heiress to a world-wide company** " Deimos replies before throwing the trooper into the room where the kids were and proceed on his way to the upper floors.

[1:12 AM, Dorm room]

"Wha . . . where am I?" Weiss mutters as her eyes slowly opened themselves finding nothing but darkness.

Her vision slowly cleared up and reveals to her that she was lying in her bed, in her dorm room in the middle of the night, "Ruby? . . . Yang?" she asks as she starts to move her head and look in the other bunk beds, to find them empty.

"Blake?" she calls out as she slowly sat up just to quickly find Zwei sleeping next to her, all curled up in a ball of fur.

She gently rubs her hand against his back, prompting the corgi to wake up and give a joyful bark upon seeing her finally awake, she grinned knowing she wasn't alone at the time of her awakening until she heard two rapid cracks of gunfire echoing from the hall. ' _Zwei isn't the only one . . ._ ' she thought to herself nervously.

It wasn't long till she started to hear a single set of heavy footsteps slowly approaching the door, Zwei focused his attention on the door and began to growl defensively while Weiss waited anxiously hoping it would be at least Cardin who made that kind of low thuds against the floor. Each step grew louder and closer until it came to a full stop, right outside her door.

The dead silence had to be the most heart stopping moment in her life not knowing who or what stood behind that wooden door, she could only think of one possibility but she is wishing it wasn't who she think it was. Then almost instantly the door was forcefully torn from its hinges in one blow, crashing down with a deafening noise, prompting the small corgi to leap from her bed and snarl at the figure that entered.

Seven feet tall, full black body armor, enclosed titanium helmet with a skull-like impression, this was what Weiss feared the most, " **Your highness . . .** " Deimos greets her in a disturbing way.

"That's far enough!" she barks at him.

The SPARTAN stops as commanded " **As you wish . . .** "

Zwei continued to growl in defense, Deimos looks down at his feet and comments " **Had I known you had a dog I would've brought a bone** " he looks back up at Schnee " **I'm more of a cat person much like your faunus friend, Blake.** "

"Where are they!? Where's my team!?"

" **Out and about searching for me, it's funny to think they're not here protecting you. Your soldiers don't have what it takes to take down a SPARTAN I suppose.** "

"A what? What do you want!? I demand to know!"

He chuckles finding her amusing " **Hmph demand. You know, we have something common you and I.** "

Schnee glanced over at her rapier for a brief second, currently sitting at the foot of her bed along with some of her other gear, before setting them back on the SPARTAN "What's that?"

However he caught her glare and found _Myrtenaster_ lying in its place and slowly walked over to it before picking it up and examine it " **We both shut out others from our personal lives . . . we embrace the cold. Is that why they call you 'The Ice Queen'?** "

"I'm getting real tired of people calling me that! And no that's not true! I have friends unlike you!"

" **Friends? Is that what you call them? No. You see them as an excuse to get away from your father back in Atlas. Speaking of which how is your old man faring?** "

"We don't see eye to eye right now" she answers with a disdainful glare, wondering how the SPARTAN would dare bring up her father in the conversation.

" **Oh of course how could've I forgotten? You're daddy's little girl that doesn't get any attention unlike your older sister, Winter, I've seen the two talking about a month ago. You should see how they look like through a rifle scope, with the crosshairs right on their heads. Then again you wouldn't care if it was your father . . . but what if it was your sister?** "

Schnee was becoming annoyed with Deimos's questioning "Enough. If you're here to kill me then do it, I don't see why you have to waste time hesitating."

" **Hesitate? Is that what you think I'm doing? No my dear Schnee I don't hesitate, I'm savoring this moment knowing that this will be a critical blow to my little problem . . .** " he states as he runs his hand along the blade before he takes a step towards her.

Zwei jumps into action and quickly leaps up at the SPARTAN smashing his furry head against the hard titanium alloy with enough force to catch Deimos off guard and staggering back a couple of feet.

" **Argh! Damn mutt!** " he bellows just as the corgi leaps for another attack only to get grabbed and thrown out the door, Weiss only heard the brief yelp when the beloved dog slammed against the door of JNPR's room.

He quickly turns back around to Weiss and began walking towards her " **Ever heard the saying: Live by the sword, die by the sword?** "

Schnee began scrambling back away from the approaching SPARTAN until her back hits against the wall and he grabs her by the mouth dragging her out of bed until she was held above the ground, he readies the sword aiming the tip at her chest " **Let's take that meaning to heart shall we?** "

She was already pounding away at his arm trying to set herself free but the soldier's grip didn't budge as he slowly etched the tip of the blade closer and closer to her heart, indulging himself in this moment, until she firmly placed her right open hand against his chest, emanating a small white glyph under it, and blasts the SPARTAN away with sheer force. Sending him sprawling out her door, smashing through JNPR's door, and come crashing down on Nora's bed breaking it under his weight.

Deimos slowly got back on his feet, quickly finding that he's no longer has the rapier in his hand, and finds Weiss wielding _Myrtenaster_ in an elegant poise, her light blue eyes fixated on him, " **You shouldn't have done that.** "

At that moment he goes into a mad dash straight towards the huntress with fists clenched, however Weiss quickly plunges her sword into the floor beneath her and develops a strip of thin ice between her and the SPARTAN. He immediately lost his footing, sliding across the slippery ice towards her, and before he could throw a punch towards her, the heiress creates another glyph underneath the unbalanced super soldier and launches him through the air before another glyph appeared behind him sending him sailing out the window.

She then mocks the SPARTAN "You shouldn't have done that . . ."

Deimos was falling out of control, after being thrown from a three story window, and slams his back against the hard ground beneath him knocking all the air out of his lungs. He gasps for oxygen for several seconds before it came streaming back into his system, he then flips himself onto his stomach and props himself up on his arms before he tries to assess the situation. Unfortunately his time didn't last the moment he heard multiple approaching figures and once he looks up from the dirt he finds a platoon of Atlesian soldiers, Team RWBY and JNPR, the professors, and two individuals he didn't expect to see, Headmaster Ozpin and General Ironwood.

Ruby casually glances up and sees Weiss awake through the window "Weiss you're awake! Are you alright!?"

"No thanks to you!" she calls back "How could you leave me alone!?"

Blake was looking up as well when she muttered "Yeah, she's fine."

Ozpin was then seen approaching the downed SPARTAN "Well well well. It's good to finally meet you Mr. Deimos . . ."

Deimos grunted as he stayed on the ground " **Pleasure's mine . . .** "

"Good to see you're somewhat civil, now might I ask why you think it was a good idea to attack my academy?"

" **Isn't it obvious?** " he asks as he slowly and painstakingly got up to his feet, making everyone around him tense.

"Yes, you wanted to eliminate the children because they interfered with your kind's plans."

" **They could've prevented all of this if they just walked away like I tried to.** "

The general soon stepped in "You've destroyed Atlesian property and killed a lot of good men, I'll see to it you'll rot in a cell for what you did."

" **I like to see you try** " he retorts just as he draws his M6C and trains the sights on Ironwood.

However the general remained calm and collected, unlike his soldiers who were anxiously waiting for the order to take the hostile down.

Ozpin then started to rationalize "I've already been informed by Ms. Goodwitch and Ruby Rose about you, a fourth generation SPARTAN super soldier left for dead by his own organization of an inter-stellar empire, you're all alone and severely outnumbered and outgunned. There's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and yet you still continue to fight. Why can't you be reasonable and turn yourself in?"

" **The question is: Why do you still see yourself in a position of strength when there's an entire galaxy breathing down your necks?** " he lowers the magnum from the general and holsters it " **And I don't care if I'm the only one of my kind on this rock, it's not like I've been through worse.** "

Pyrrha then steps into the conversation "Either way you'll face justice for the crimes you committed."

The SPARTAN glared at her " **No** " he turns his attention to everyone around him " **Not today.** "

At that second he pulls out his last flashbang grenade, pulls the pin, and hurls into the air above him. Ozpin watched as the seven foot soldier slowly fades away into the background just before the flashbang detonated, blinding those that weren't fast enough to shield their eyes. And like that, he was gone. Leaving everyone standing there confused and even more worried, and with the mad dog off its leash now searching for a way to quench its thirst of vengeance, a new question now hangs over them. What is his next move?

 **At this point some of you are probably believing that SPARTAN Deimos is overpowered compared to the hunters and huntresses so I'm going to explain a few things.**

 **First off: Deimos is not physically stronger than the hunters, an average SPARTAN-lV wearing MJOLNIR [GEN2] maybe at par with Yang's natural strength.**

 **Second: While some hunters are physically faster than Deimos, ex. Ruby, Weiss, Mercury, it is likely that they are outclassed when it comes to reflexes, given Deimos's augmentations and genetic enhancements that places their senses far beyond that of an ordinary human.**

 **Third: Deimos's durability is arguably beyond most hunters, with possibly the exception of Yang given her semblance, mainly due to his MJOLNIR armor fitted with energy shielding and titanium alloy plating, one of humanity's strongest manmade metal. His physical health is also noted when he starts to become exhausted during prolonged engagements.**

 **Fourth: It's definitely obvious which universe carries the better weapons, Deimos however is equipped with tactical equipment, such as flashbangs, that can give the critical edge he needs when things turn south. But it should be noted that the SPARTAN wouldn't last long in a full on brawl as you've seen.**

 **So in summary, Deimos isn't beyond what the hunters are capable of dealing with, the only serious advantage the SPARTAN carries is his training, strategic mind, and reflexes.**

 **As always, leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.**


	12. The damage is done

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **ACT TWO: New lines drawn**

 **Chapter 11**

 **"** **The damage is done"**

[June 5th, 2558]

[Headmaster Chambers, Beacon Academy]

[12:38 AM, two days later]

Ozpin sighs solemnly after seeing the damage report for the twelfth time already, eighteen Atlesians are dead, Team CRDL are in the infirmary for a few more days while another team reports only bruises plus numerous others that were injured during the initial attack, and sadly one huntress was placed in critical condition and was on her way back to Atlas where the people there will tend to her wounds. ' _Poor Penny . . ._ ' he thought to himself.

He wasn't too concerned about the structural damage of the academy however, a few blown holes as well as torn down doors, because he was fortunate enough to have Glynda to tend to the damage and repair them with ease.

But was made him worry the most was finally realizing who they were dealing with, a fourth generation augmented super soldier belonging to a galaxy spanning empire consisting of an unimaginable amount of worlds with the power to easily overwhelm their defenses and conquer the planet in mere hours. However there were several questions that had been churning about in his mind: _Why send only one soldier? Why abandon that soldier? Who was in charge of the operation before it went sour for them?_

His train of thought was eventually interrupted when he heard footsteps approaching him, he looks up "Ah Glynda . . . thank you for repairing the damage."

It was obvious to him that she was exhausted, though visually she displayed no evidence of this, and she replies "Yes well fortunately Deimos had only acquired low-yield explosives though I'm afraid he could've done more."

"As do I."

The two sat there in silence, enjoying it while it lasted until the terminal in front of the headmaster chimed displaying the message [INCOMING TRANSMISSION]

"I wonder who that could be?" Ozpin asks sarcastically, hoping to lighten the mood for the two, before he presses the answer icon.

A window opened up and showed three shadowed figures standing behind a large table with the flag of Vale represented behind them, "Councilors . . . I figured you would call soon."

"Yes well the recent situation with this terrorist has just come up to our attention" the center figure said calmly, just before becoming more serious "I wonder how in the Grimm you allowed him to infiltrate your academy and cause havoc among the troops and students!?"

"The general-"

"We're fully aware of what General Ironwood was doing at that time, he briefed us as he was returning to Atlas for the time being. And not only did this Deimos get through his security measures, he also shown that he's more than capable of engaging your hunters and survive to fight another day!"

"I assure you Councilor, we're doing everything we can to contain the situation."

"No Ozpin. It has become abundantly clear that neither the general or you can handle the situation, therefore we have decided to postpone the Vytal Festival in order to ensure the safety of the people until this problem is dealt with."

"Councilor, I understand the need to protect the people but this is becoming too extreme. The students have been waiting to show their skills in the tournament for a long time now. Not to mention you'll be disappointing the entire world."

"Well it looks like everyone will have to deal with it Headmaster, we've already spoken with the other councils across the world and they believe that the Amity Coliseum is too much of a risk to lose. We can't afford to have any more destabilization between the kingdoms."

' _No sense in trying to stop this_ ' Ozpin sighed "Very well, do what you wish. If you'll excuse me I have a SPARTAN to capture."

The display screen disappeared prompting the headmaster to turn his chair around and face the windows, seeing a single Atlesian airship hovering over the city, before he solemnly says "You've done what you can Ms. Goodwitch, get your rest for today . . ."

"What're you going to do?" she asks.

"I have an announcement to make to the entire academy, I am more than capable of arranging the event."

Glynda made no further comments and bows her head lightly before walking towards the elevator. Ozpin remained silent as he stared out the window thinking of what he could do, but time passed on and he figured it was time to let the students know much to his displeasure.

[1:12 PM, Emerald Forest]

SPARTAN Deimos was leaning his back against the trunk of a tree, whilst sitting on top of a thick branch, as he checked over the broadcast frequencies wondering if he could find the channel the prowler _High Up_ was using, unfortunately there's been no signs of it prompting him to give up. It stands to reason now that the prowler had either left the system or encrypted their communications in order to block him out. He gave a small sigh before staring out into the trees ahead of him, thinking now he's in a world he can call home, a monster in a world of monsters, he liked the idea.

He decides to check on his wound one last time before heading out, he looks down at his torso to find that the titanium nanocomposite bodysuit had sealed itself up, courtesy of the nanobots, but he could still feel the stinging sensation of where the blade had gone through. He knew that he needed an edge over the hunters now more than ever without _High Up's_ orbital support, he knew that he already has the means to kill them ruthlessly and effectively but it just wasn't enough. He needed something more than a mere weapon, an upgrade to his own physical prowess.

The longer he thought, the more he grew frustrated, until he remembers something in his waist bag. He reaches back and pulls out the small glowing crystal of bright orange dust, he holds the crystal gently in his gloved hand feeling the warmth radiate from it. During his eleven years on Remnant he has learned of tales that people that thrived for power would use unorthodox methods to augment their strength with dust, some weave the mineral into their clothing while others took more radical steps.

For once the SPARTAN hesitated, looking down at the crystal wondering what would happen if he tried, good chances are he'll experience excruciating pain and possibly even death. Then again he'll gain a decisive enhancement to his combat effectiveness and eliminate the hunters with ease, the very advantage he needed, and the reward outweighed the risks.

' _Nothing ventured. Nothing gained . . ._ ' his mind told him.

He gave his final thoughts before firmly grasping the crystal and plunge it into his body, piercing the bodysuit where his wound existed, lodging it deep inside him. The next moment became nothing but undeniably agonizing pain for the SPARTAN, roaring out to the sky above loud enough to be heard for miles. It wasn't the matter of jabbing the crystal into his body that made him scream, it was the fact that the radiating contents of the crystal was coursing through him, radically changing his entire biology and genetic makeup with a burning intensity. Deimos couldn't stop screaming even if he tried, the pain was enough to easily kill a normal human, a SPARTAN-lV was still up for debate, and he couldn't keep control his arms and legs as they spasm out of control.

The sheer pain was starting to overwhelm him and he eventually begins to lose his grip becoming semi-conscious before falling off the tree limb slamming hard onto the forest floor. He struggles to reach out for anything close by but he eventually succumbs to the pain and blacks out.

[1:21 PM, Amphitheater]

"Please everyone find your respective teams and wait" Ozpin asks as he observes the assembly of students and staff that were coming into the amphitheater after hearing that the headmaster has an announcement to make.

Team RWBY and JNPR stuck to one of the back walls wondering what could this possibly be, Ruby had to ask so naively "So you guys think this is about last night?"

Weiss scoffs "Obviously. I almost died because you all left me alone with that freak!"

"But you didn't" Blake remarked.

"And besides you had Zwei" Yang adds.

"He threw Zwei out the door remember!? You found him all scratched and bruised!" Schnee replies angrily.

"Oh yeah . . . well he's fine now, he's use to this stuff."

"Getting thrown out the door or dealing with destructive sociopath?" Belladonna wonders.

Their attention was then immediately taken away by Ozpin, standing on the central stage, who tapped his cane on the floor and spoke "Everyone if you would kindly listen to what I have to say."

Every single being in that room turned their attention onto the headmaster, silently wondering what this was about, and he continues "I'm sure you are all aware of the events that transpired last night here at Beacon, but for those that have the vaguest idea allow me to explain. This was no mere Grimm attack some of you would like to believe, in fact the assault was done by a lone individual with impressive capabilities, men were lost and even now we're hoping for Penny Polendina's safe recovery . . ."

Ruby immediately felt the heart wrenching sorrow of her friend's critical state prompting her to lower her head.

"The man was well organized, tactically adept, and carried some of the most sophisticated equipment we never thought possible making him a grave threat to us all. That is why . . . with the deepest regret, that I must inform you the Vytal Festival has been postponed . . ."

This sudden news immediately caused an uproar among the students, many complained and bickered while others remained silent in disappointment

"What!?" Yang barks out loud, her hair flaring up "That's not fair!"

Ruby quickly tries to calm her "Yang don't worry, we get Deimos and we'll have the tournament again."

"But how long will that take!? How many times do we have to fight him before that happens!?"

Blake steps in "We'll get him the next time, all of us."

JNPR comes in with Pyrrha adding "We were caught by surprise by that flashbang, but we're ready for him now."

Long's hair soon lulled and she was calm once more "Well this just ruined my day . . ."

"Well it's not all that bad" Ruby comments with a friendly grin as she gestures to Schnee "Weiss is awake now . . ."

"Yeah no thanks to you" the heiress retorts swiping Rose's hand away.

Ozpin continues, trying to calm down the upset crowd, "Now I know most of you have been waiting to compete in the tournaments for so long but hopefully you all realize that the Amity Coliseum is a large potential target for this man, therefore we, the Kingdom of Vale, cannot risk losing such a treasure."

The crowd slowly settled from loud complaints to scarce muttering as the headmaster goes on "But rest assured we have our best teams of hunters and huntresses on the case as we speak, supported by Atlas's finest men. This man will soon have nowhere to run or hide and he will be brought to justice for what he has committed . . . you are all dismissed for the day."

The students slowly made their way out the doors just when Team RWBY and JNPR were caught by Ozpin "Students, a word please."

The two teams gathered in front of the headmaster with Pyrrha asking kindly "What is it?"

"I understand how all of you feel about this sudden announcement but I'm also aware that you understand as well about the safety of the festivities. You eight are our finest yet to be seen here at Beacon, and for that I am thankful. But what Deimos has done last night showed us that he isn't willing to back down just yet either."

Ruby comments "But he was just after us, he didn't bother to go after anyone else before. Why else would he do something like that now?"

"To send a message, his attack on the academy was his way of declaring war against you."

Blake then asks "So it's us against the UNSC?"

Weiss shot her a look "The who?"

But Ozpin lets the question slide "I doubt it, if the UNSC had been maintaining secrecy for so long why ruin it now? Why target a single kingdom when they could strike all the others at once? I fear Deimos may have gone rouge and made this matter very personal, I advise you all to be ready to face his wrath when the time comes."

"We'll be ready Headmaster" Jaune states rather confidently.

"Good . . . I've also notified the other professors that you will not be attending their classes for the duration of this crisis."

"But wouldn't we get behind on our work?" a concerned Yang asks.

"Not to worry, this will not go against your academic grades. Consider this extra credit" he replies with a gentle smile "You may go . . ." and heads off on his way out.

The two teams made their way back outside into the main avenue where they gathered and began discussing a new strategy to find the rogue SPARTAN.

"So . . . is anyone going to explain to me what happened while I was out?"

But first they had some explaining to do.

[Ten minutes later . . .]

"So . . . we're fighting a rogue soldier from an alien inter-stellar empire that might as well be sitting high up above us and we wouldn't have known about it if it weren't for the night at the pizzeria?" Weiss summarizes.

"Yeah pretty much" Yang states.

"Except they're not aliens . . . they're human too . . ." Ruby puts in just to make sure Weiss knew, only to receive a sharp look.

But Blake retorts "Technically they are aliens, given their foreign status to our world."

Nora steps up to Belladonna "Do they have green skin? Big heads? Make weird sounds like ' _beep bop boop_ '!?"

Ren sighs and explains "They're not _that_ kind of alien Nora."

She turns to him "But she said they are!" then she gasps "What if they look like humans!"

Ruby was immediately caught off guard "Wait- aliens can do that?"

Yang shrugs "I dunno . . ."

Weiss immediately intrudes on the matter "Does it really matter!? Aren't we going to talk about how we're going to catch this thing?"

Arc answers "Well we do have a strategy . . . we just haven't been able to use it yet."

"Then it's best if we start searching for him, with RWBY back to full strength we can search for him and fight him on fair grounds until the other arrives" Pyrrha states.

Yang pounds her two fists together "Sounds like a plan, let's get going."

[3:28 PM, Emerald Forest]

" _Adam . . . finally good to see you again . . ._ " a soft feminine voice spoke to him.

" _What?_ " the SPARTAN asks himself.

The woman giggled " _C'mon Adam don't play dumb with me. It's been awhile since the last time we saw each other._ "

Deimos opened his eyes, or so he thought he did, and finds himself not in a forest but instead inside of a neatly furnished living room sitting in a chair. He quietly looks down at himself finding out he still had his black GUNGNIR-Variant armor and his LOCUS-Variant helmet sitting next to him on a small coffee table.

He then looks up to see this beautiful young woman with long blonde hair standing next to him, she was showing the early signs of pregnancy, she asks " _You want anything dear?_ "

But he quickly comes to realization " _You're not her . . . she died nineteen years ago . . ._ "

" _What're you talking about? I'm right here_ " she then walks over and sits down in his lap wrapping her arms around his head " _The police commissioner is holding a big ceremony for the cop who took down that drug cartel a week ago. You going?_ "

He speaks to himself " _No this isn't happening . . . I'm a SPARTAN now . . ._ "

" _SPARTAN? You mean those super soldiers off fighting the Covenant? Adam are you alright?_ "

This felt all wrong to him " _You're. Not. Her._ "

The woman's worried expression turned to a bitter frown, then her voice changes tone " _You're better than this Adam, stop hurting these people and just let it go . . . there was nothing you could've done for me._ "

" _No. I could've done something but I made the wrong choice, I got her killed . . ._ "

" _One of these days you're going to get hurt or worse because of this. You need to let it go, change your life around and do some good in it. If you don't . . . you'll die like the monster you are . . ._ " the woman says just as she, her voice, and everything around them faded into black.

" _I look forward to it . . ._ " he replies.

At that moment his eyes slowly flickered open, seeing nothing but his helmet's HUD and the dirt he was laying on, his body ached and moaned in pain from the stupid idea he done hours earlier. He slowly began to become aware of his surroundings, trees, ground, animals, no Grimm, the usual, so he started to slowly get back up despite his body's protest.

That was until he suddenly hears a woman's voice right behind him "Found ya."

And just like that, he was knocked back into the blackness.

[4:03 PM, Industrial District]

Team RWBY and JNPR were back at the warehouse where Ruby and Deimos made their temporary alliance against the White Fang after the police had granted them entry, they were now searching through the building hoping to find whatever the SPARTAN had come for or at least clues to help find him. So far they were having no luck as of yet until Blake managed to find a shipment roster among the debris.

"So let me get this straight" Weiss asks "You followed two guys to this warehouse, finding it full of White Fang?"

Ruby replied "Yep."

"Got captured and suddenly Deimos was there to save you?"

"Uh huh."

"You two teamed up and took down everyone including their mech?"

"Mhm."

"And to top it all off, you somehow got him to disarm a bomb that was intended for who knows where?"

"That's sounds about right."

"What else did I miss?" Schnee now asks seemingly curious about recent events.

Yang was returning from a brief search answering "Deimos has a thing for Ruby."

That comment struck her odd "Wait- really!?"

"No!" Ruby snaps back defensively.

Belladonna added as she carefully looked through the roster "Not that sort of thing Weiss."

"Wait wait now I'm all confused" the heiress sighs as she presses her hand against her forehead "He has a 'thing' for you. I'm not following."

Ruby explains "He said we've met before but he doesn't remember when or where. I don't either."

"That's a little weird if not scary, how could the two of you met so long ago?"

Nobody answered, neither had any rational explanation, and it worried them.

"Maybe when we catch him, he'll tell us" Yang remarks.

Rose nodded to that unsurely "Yeah . . . maybe."

It wasn't long until Ren appeared around the corner and called their attention "Girls. You might want to see this."

The girls looked at one another before the followed their friend across the ravaged warehouse where the rest of Team JNPR stood. The group ventured through the damage, pieces of debris here, a spat of blood over there, until they found the others standing around a small empty crate with the lid forcibly ripped off.

"Was this it?" Ruby asked.

Jaune answered "Looks like it, it's empty."

"Well obviously" Weiss remarks.

Pyyrha looked up at the shelf, where the crate was once situated, and saw the identification tag [R7] then she asks Belladonna "Blake, could you tell us what was under R7?"

Blake went to work, flipping page after page, until she came to a stop and read out "It says here there's a crate of communications equipment, transceiver, short-range relay, channel terminal. Nothing that would blow up a building as far as we're concerned."

"Why would he need something like this?" Weiss asked.

Nikos answered strongly "It's just like Professor Ozpin said, Deimos is sending a message."

"What did he want in the first place, why did he go through all the trouble just to get at us?" Yang wondered.

Ruby thought back to the attack on Beacon, more specifically when Yang and Blake were both incapacitated by the SPARTAN, and recollected "He said that we should've let him go when we first met him at the pizzeria. If we hadn't stopped him then none of this would've happened."

Blake's curiosity began to take hold "So he's punishing us for getting in the way? He killed all these people and launched a one-man assault on the academy just to make this look like our fault?"

"That sounds about right . . ."

The group fell silent, their minds filled with thought and concerns, the question continued to linger in their minds. What was Deimos planning next?

[8:21 PM, Unspecified location]

His mind was beginning to come to, his vision was dim and blurry but he could barely make out his surroundings, he tried to move his arms but for some reason he felt they were being restrained to something. His body ached badly from what was probably the worst decision in his life, most notably around his abdomen where he plunged the dust crystal into his body.

He lets out a small groan " **Ergh . . .** " as his vision gradually became clearer.

Then out of his line of sight he heard a male voice, one he couldn't recognize, "Oh finally . . . I'll go tell the boss."

Another voice responded "I'll keep watch."

Shortly after he could hear a door open and close before it was filled with silence once again. He was beginning to see again now making better notes of everything around him, he was situated in a steel chair tied up with an industrial steel linked chain, cliché but effective. The room he sat in was purely made out of concrete with no visible distinctions other than a couple of LED lights hanging off the walls. This was too close to being a typical interrogation room but he couldn't complain, he was here for a reason and he needed to know why.

Then by cue he heard the door open once more, his ears picked up the sound of the heavy metal door creak open as if rust was taking over, followed up with a male's voice calm but strong "So . . . this is him?"

Not a moment later a woman replied, one he recognized all too well by now, "Yes. This is the one that attacked your men and Beacon Academy. He's been a real busy man."

"I bet" the man answered with agitation in his voice.

Deimos was beginning to regain some clarity in his eyes just as he spots two individuals step in front of him from to different sides, the first to his left was a tall male with red spiky hair that was swept backwards, he wore a black long-sleeved trench coat with a red and white design over his left pec and shoulder, black pants, boots, gloves, and finally a white and red mask that obscures his eyes and upper face and closely resembles that of a Grimm creature. The second figure on the right was the woman he saw back at Beacon, only this time she was wearing a dark red dress with yellow designs running from her chest to the edge of her sleeves and black high-heeled shoes. The man stepped forward and kneeled down next to the SPARTAN, somewhat looking carefully at the LOCUS helmet that Deimos was donning, and as expected Deimos looked straight back at him helmet to mask.

"Strong silent type aren't you?" he asks only to receive silence as his answer.

The woman adds "I believe this soldier could be the solution to our problems. Wouldn't you agree?"

"The only problem right now is: Is he willing to work for us?" the man wondered as he stood back up, Deimos didn't bother to look up at him.

"You just leave that to me."

The man backed off while the woman took a step forward and caught his attention "You remember the business proposition don't you?"

He looked up to her in response, he could see the confident grin she had on her face.

"You've been abandoned by your kind, left here to die while they run off to do other meaningless things. Tell me, how does that make you feel?"

The SPARTAN flexed his arms, testing the chain's strength, and finally answered " **Positively livid.** "

"I thought so" she said calmly as she approached him within arm's reach "But what would you say if we could give you a purpose again?"

Deimos stared at her silently waiting for the next part, she continues "We understand that you want to exact your revenge on the huntresses and in time you will, but only if you come with us and work for it."

The SPARTAN growled " **I serve no one.** "

The man argues "This is a waste of our time, we don't need him."

The woman turned on him "That's where you're wrong Adam, we need him as much as he needs us" she then returns to Deimos "Wouldn't you agree?" as she waves her hand across the chains and heated it to a high degree.

With the extreme heat the metal became considerably 'softer' therefore it allowed Deimos to suddenly break free, snapping the chains, and stand up showing his towering height over practically everyone in the room. Adam instinctively places his hand over his weapon, a sword that is currently sheathed in a rifle, and stands ready just in case. Deimos was beginning to wonder why the woman was doing all of this, but in the end after understanding her intentions he only had one question.

" **Why me?** "

"Why not? You're the perfect soldier for our cause, you are the living embodiment of fear and death itself, and that is all I've could've ever hoped for. With you we can achieve our goals and you will be able to take revenge against that pitiful band of children that ruined everything for you."

" **I will deal with them on my terms.** "

She steps forward again, now practically chest-to chest with the SPARTAN, and caresses the side of his helmet with her hand "And in time you will, but thanks to what transpired that night the academy is on high alert. You've certainly scared everyone with your ability to cause damage to one of the most secured facilities on the planet, even the councilors of other kingdoms are afraid."

" **They have every right to be afraid.** "

"Then take advantage of the fear you've instilled, join us and you will send fear sweeping over the weak and arrogant like a tidal wave. You will truly be the monster you desire."

That caught Deimos by surprise, despite the short amount of time she was able to work through him and find out what he craved for, to be a monster that shows no fear, no regret, and no mercy, the ultimate soldier. He went into deep thought, it was true that the academy was on high guard ever since the attack so it denies him another chance for a long time, and while his enemies are recuperating and regaining their strength he needed to do the same as well. Only this time he'll have allies and supporters to actually aid him rather than watch and observe much like ONI and the UNSC, this was the one time something actually turned out good for him. This was as strong as he'll ever be . . .

" **What is your name?** " he asks.

The woman takes a step back "Cinder . . . Cinder Fall."

He then turns to the man who then spoke "Adam Taurus, leader of the White Fang."

The SPARTAN-lV turned back to Cinder and finally falls to a knee with his head bowed " **I am yours to command Cinder Fall. What will you have me do?** "

Cinder grinned with satisfaction, she finally has a SPARTAN on her side.

 **Please leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.**


	13. Getting acquainted

**RWBY: The dark hunter**

 **Chapter 12**

 **"** **Getting acquainted"**

[June 6th, 2558]

[Unspecified location, City of Vale]

[9:42 AM, the next day]

Deimos was sitting silently on his UNSC supply crate alone in a room where Adam's soldiers had stored his equipment after securing it from the forests during the SPARTAN's time of being unconscious. He had already performed maintenance checks on his two M7s, the grenade launcher, and his jetpack, and was now making one last check on his BR85 that he decided to fit with a Longshot Optical Scope. He loaded a fresh magazine of thirty six rounds into the rifle's stock-mounted magazine feed and works the charging bolt, loading the first round into the chamber, and look down the sights for proper inspection. Everything seemed to be in working order though his attack on Beacon had drained his supplies quite a bit, having lost his M247 GMPG to Glynda and having used up his last flashbang grenade was a bit of a loss in firepower and tactical flexibility but he wasn't going to complain, there was nothing he could do about that problem.

He hears the metal door creak open once more to his left and a pair of footsteps walked in before coming to a stop, he sets his battle rifle aside and picked up his only M6C for another routine check, he then finally looks over his shoulder to see Cinder standing there with a curious expression on her face.

He could only wonder why she had that look but he didn't bother to answer, feeling she had her reasons and it was not his place to ask, and returned to pulling the slide back on his magnum, and that's when she spoke "You seem to show a lot interest in your little toys for someone who appears to be the discreet type."

The sociopath scoffed " **Hmph, I grew tired of being a quiet little mouse** " he flips the safety on the magnum and generously hands the weapon to Cinder who took it and examined it " **That is the M6C Personal Defense Weapon System, twelve round magazine, semi-automatic, fires the heavy 12.7mm semi-armor piercing rounds. I can assure you it's superior compared to what the Atlesians consider standard issue.** "

He watched her turn the gun around, examining the finer details of the handgun before she hands the weapon back to Deimos, which was when he realized that she was more curious about him rather than his arsenal "Yes well a gun can only take you so far, though it's nothing compared to an individual's semblance."

This was something new to him, of all his eleven years on Remnant he has heard very little of the so called ' _Semblance_ ' so he had to ask " **Semblance?** "

"Yes, a semblance is the manifestation of one's innate and personal power" she explained as she conjures up a ball of fire in the palm of her hand "With the effects varying greatly from person to person."

" **I've heard so little of the concept, it's unfortunate I don't have such power at my fingertips.** "

The fireball dissipates into thin air and Cinder continued to grin as if she knew something to everything "On the contrary, every human and faunus are in touch with their aura that comes from their soul in which fuels their semblance. Every living thing except for the Grimm has a soul."

The SPARTAN chuckled, amused by her assumptions, " **Hah, you really think a monster like me has a soul? I gave mine up the moment I became . . .** " he gestures to his armored body " **. . . this . . .** "

"That may be, but I have other thoughts."

" **And that is?** "

"That you do possess a soul but it hides so well in the dark even you don't see it, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous" she walks over and sits down on the crate next to him "An untapped well of aura and potential just waiting to be discovered."

" **Alright, let's say I believe that I have a soul, where do we go from there?** "

"Why it's simple, since you've aligned yourself with me perhaps I can train you. Mold you into something greater, but first we must unlock your aura."

The SPARTAN however wasn't buying it at first until he was ushered up to his feet by his new employer, he wasn't sure what was going to happen next but she ordered "Take off your helmet."

He hesitates for a moment before complying with her command; he reaches up for his helmet and unlocks it from the suit, releasing a hiss of air, and takes it off revealing his somewhat pale complexion and his dark brown eyes that were cold, unforgiving, and full of spite. This however didn't deter Cinder as she rests her left hand against his chest and softly place her right against the side of his face, he found her warm touch to be calm and soothing he almost enjoyed it but yet he was still anxious to know what was happening.

She closed her eyes and began to recite a chant " _For it is in passing that we achieve immortality_ " Deimos soon realized her body was beginning to glow with an amber hue, he was resonating with an orange hue himself " _Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by_ death. _I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee._ "

The glowing soon fades away afterwards and Cinder took a moment to recollect her strength after the activation of his aura causing the SPARTAN to ask "Ma'am?"

"Don't worry about me . . ." she replies shortly before she was back to her normal self.

"What did you do to me?"

"I've unlocked your aura which was stronger than I anticipated, an outcome that was caused when you impaled yourself with the crystal. A foolish move" she then grins "But it might be what you needed all along."

"What now?"

"We go train . . . come" she answered as she began to walk away.

Deimos could start to feel this new liveliness inside him, the aura coursing through his veins and muscles, he couldn't help but think that she was right, this was what he needed for a long time, and he fits his helmet back over his head and begins to follow Cinder out the door with a steady walk " **Yes Ma'am . . .** "

The SPARTAN followed her lead through the door into a narrow dimly lit hallway, she inquired "So tell me Deimos, what's your story?"

He was about to speak but a lingering habit forced him to hold his tongue, an ONI training exercise that taught agents how to withhold secrets and means, but his defection from ONI and the UNSC gave him the freedom to speak without worry " **I was an ONI-sanctioned fourth generation SPARTAN that was hired on to deal with certain things that others wouldn't want to get their hands dirty over.** "

"Sanctioned? I suppose you had trouble in the past."

" **I was imprisoned for the murders of four police detectives, sentenced for life without parole, when I first arrived all I wanted was to be alone but none of the inmates would respect my wish. I spent most of my time in solitary confinement.** "

She continued to listen with interest " **Psychological Analysists claimed that during my time in solitary my sense of humanity had been devolving steadily, I simple stated that I was becoming what I was meant to be. Something less of a human, a shadow of my former self if you would.** "

"Interesting . . . and how did you manage to get out?"

" **I never planned to, I wanted to stay in there but ONI was looking for someone they could rely on, believing the average human was too 'soft hearted' to effectively do what needs to be done so they went about searching for hardened criminals that would do the dirty deed. Some were too unstable and some were just not quite bold enough to take the job, until they found me.** **I agreed with their demands on one condition, to make me a SPARTAN.** "

"And they did?"

" **Yes Ma'am. They knew a SPARTAN would typically do what needed to be done, but to make a SPARTAN with a devolved sense of humanity; it was everything they hoped for. A soldier that will efficiently execute his orders without hesitation.** "

"And now their precious soldier has turned against them. I doubt they'll take kindly to that."

" **I agree.** **It stands to reason they'll send a force retrieval team after me.** "

"We'll be ready for them rest assured."

The two were beginning to approach another door and emerged into a large storage bay that held weapons and equipment for the White Fang, they were inside one of the larger warehouses of the Industrial District of Vale, and almost immediately he spots Adam Taurus directing his men with various tasks. Afterwards he notices Emerald and Mercury were kicking back and relaxing on a set of crates, they were talking about something but their mouths stopped the moment Emerald spots Cinder and him approaching. The two climbed off their crates and stood side by side just as Fall stopped right in front of them, he halts shortly behind her.

Cinder steps off to the side and spoke to her three subordinates "I'm sure you've all met."

Mercury bluntly puts "All too well I'm afraid."

Deimos figured Black wasn't going to be easy with him after the crotch shot the SPARTAN delivered but Emerald on the other hand was a little more friendly but only by a margin "Yeah, I agree."

Cinder insisted "Come now there should be no quarrels here, we're family."

Mercury was still having hard feelings but Emerald sighs and steps forward with her hand reaching out for a shake, the SPARTAN made no hesitation to extend his own hand and shook with Sustrai before the two retracted them.

Black wasn't interested in shaking so he asks Cinder "What're we doing?"

"We are going to help our dear friend Deimos with discovering his aura and semblance, first a couple of demonstrations."

Deimos was looking at Cinder as she spoke just before he turns his sights back to Mercury and Emerald, only for the latter to have simply vanished into thin air, instinct told him to turn around immediately and when he does so he quickly finds a young little girl with blonde hair, blue eyes, wearing a school uniform.

The girl seemed distraught and afraid as she tugs at his hand gently "I'm loss . . . can you help me find my family?" she asked as tears ran from her eyes.

The SPARTAN was thoroughly convinced as he turns to Cinder and ask " **How was she able to get through security?** "

Cinder maintained her confident grin of hers as she looks down to where the girl was supposedly standing, finding no one at all, and look back up to Deimos "I don't know what you're talking about, nobody's there."

Deimos looks down, seeing the girl still standing there, before realizing what was going on " **It's a hallucination . . . clever.** "

He turns back around to see Emerald standing there "Almost had you there for a bit."

The SPARTAN gives her a respectful nod before turning to Mercury, his arms still crossed, " **And you?** "

"Not really in the mood for show and tell, maybe another time."

Cinder shoots him a brief disdainful glare but her expression quickly reverted back to normal "Very well. Hopefully Deimos has an idea of how effective a semblance can be, now onto our next session. Follow me."

As Cinder begins to walk off the other three falls in line behind her, Deimos was becoming more interested in this aura concept as he continue to feel the energy radiate inside him, what a wonderful feeling it was.

The four entered a more open area of the warehouse, nearly void of White Fang, and Cinder stops before explaining the next session "Live combat exercises . . . the best way of finding one's potential."

" **Haven't I proven myself back at Beacon?** "

She turns around to face him "That just shows that you are a bold one, I admire that. But I feel we only had a glimpse of your abilities."

"Little more than a glimpse" Black retorts.

But Emerald taps him on the shoulder "Just let it go Merc."

The SPARTAN dismisses the twos' bicker and asks " **So who will be my opponent?** "

"All of us."

Emerald and Mercury shifted themselves uncomfortably, not really willing to go toe-to-toe with Deimos again, but the SPARTAN listened attentively "With the three of us surely your capabilities will be pushed to the brink, show us everything you are. What a _real_ SPARTAN is capable of."

The super soldier glanced at every one of them then he began to step back and nod " **As you wish.** "

As the SPARTAN took several careful steps backwards, Emerald drew her revolvers, Mercury made no motion of preparation, and Cinder calmly stands back as her eyes began to glow, an indication of her gathering her power. Deimos soon stopped and held his position before reaching back behind him to draw his tomahawk and combat knife, his opponents held their ground waiting for an inevitable strike. He carefully scans each figure, Emerald stood to his left while Mercury took up the right, and Cinder herself was standing in the middle feeling somewhat casual.

At that instant he charges up his armor's thrusters and bolts towards the trio, reaching up to an impressive fifty-six kilometers in one single burst, and closed in just before he splits into two different instances that were targeting Emerald and Mercury. Sustrai swiftly reacts and begins to unload several rounds into the SPARTAN that was charging her but her high caliber bullets phased through and the figure dissipates, realizing it was a hologram decoy, leaving the real Deimos to perform a shoulder charge into Mercury who was quick enough to throw up his left knee to block the incoming hit. Mercury seemed to have grinned knowing Deimos chose to deal with him first, either out of spite or recognizing him as a primary threat, and skips back a foot just as the SPARTAN leaps backwards before launching himself back into the fray.

As expected Emerald and Cinder joins in to help their companion, who was deflecting blows with his two legs from the SPARTAN's fierce bladed attacks, with Sustrai firing four more rounds into her opponent, her bullets collided with his shields. But Deimos didn't bother to retaliate just yet as he makes a wide slash towards Black's abdominal region with his axe, the latter skips back before launching a rapid butterfly kick with both feet making a successful impact that shattered what was left of the SPARTAN's shields. Cinder dashes in, making her dual curved swords appear from thin air, and attempts to lunge at Deimos who quickly spots her in time and immediately breaks off from Mercury to dash out of the way and swing back with his tomahawk. Fall however turned in time to send both of her swords up to block the axe; while the two were locked Emerald took the moment to transform her two revolvers into a pair of short kusarigama and charge in with the intent of striking Deimos's legs.

The SPARTAN-lV was placing pressure on Cinder, his augmented strength was making her fall to a knee as she tried to hold herself, just moments before Emerald goes into a ground slide and hook her left kusarigama around his right leg and take the foot from underneath him causing the giant to lose his footing and his struggle over his employer. Fall took the opportunity to strike with an uppercut slash with her two blades, the swords struck the soldier along his chest and caused him to topple over onto the ground on his back; however he was able to quickly recover as he rolled backwards and use his hands to launch himself back onto his feet.

He takes a quick moment to examine the damage done to him, nothing more than a couple moderate cuts to his chest plate, and Cinder explained "Aura acts as a barrier for your body, but there are ways to break that barrier."

That was something he had noticed, before his body would've taken more damage during his fights with the huntresses but now he felt his newly found aura slowly gaining strength in his muscles as he grows more accustomed to it, it was unfortunate that this kind of barrier didn't extend to his MJOLNIR armor. He turns his attention back to his opponents and immediately begins to charge; he quickly preps his axe for a throw and sends it spiraling towards Cinder while he personally targets Mercury and Emerald. The axe flies between the two subordinates without interference and Cinder tosses her swords aside before throwing up her hands and immediately catches the tomahawk by the head, her confident grin was apparent. Deimos quickly engages Sustrai in close quarters, his combat knife in his right hand ready to strike as he jabs for her chest, however she quickly skips off to the side before twirling herself around to bring both her sickles down upon the SPARTAN but he throws up his left gauntlet to block her left handed blade. She attempts to slash his side with her right kusarigama and successfully does so with the blade tearing into his titanium nanocomposite suit and parts of his flesh causing him to roar out in pain before he forcibly pulls the sickle out of his body and drop to a knee where he sweeps Sustrai's feet from underneath her with one swift kick from his left leg before coming back up to counter the next threat.

Mercury quickly moves in to deliver a fast blow, performing a right side kick right into the SPARTAN's right side with enough force to break normal human's bones, Deimos grimaced in pain just as Black backed away and this was the final straw

He turns to Mercury as he swung a heavy left fist roaring out " **RAAAAGH!** " but Black manages to skip out of the way just in time to elude the augmented fist that smashes into the concrete flooring, utterly devastating the ground beneath him in a display of raw unforeseen strength leaving only a fairly small crater of crackled pavement courtesy of his augmented prowess.

But even then Deimos didn't think he had enough power to have caused that much damage, however he wasn't given enough time when he noticed Cinder was preparing to throw his tomahawk, the axe head now glowing a dangerous orange hue as if it was in a superheated state, and sends it flying back his way in simultaneous unison with Emerald and Mercury who were moving in a pincer maneuver catching him on both sides. The axe was closing in quickly but, by using his reflexes, he catches the axe by the handle and swiftly makes an uppercut swipe directed towards Emerald who immediately halts her attack and backs away, missing the blade by a margin and feeling the searing heat that radiated from the blade. Mercury manages to close the distance and send two rapid strikes against the SPARTAN's right thigh and side but this didn't even faze the giant as he swings his axe around in a hammer swing with the intent of causing serious damage to his attacker. Black swiftly backs away in time, now seeing that this soldier was too dangerous for up close brawls and makes a brief retreat as well as his partner.

Deimos watched as his opponents try to place distance between themselves and him but before he could've pursued either one and maintain the pressure he had he spots Cinder conjuring up a ball of fire and hurl it his way at a high velocity. Quickly realizing he had no time to dodge he throws up both of his gauntlets in a 'X' just mere milliseconds before impact which resulted in a massive explosion that engulfed the SPARTAN and everyone else around him in a wave of heavy smoke. Cinder stared at the devastation before her, her associates actually wondering if Deimos could've survived that explosion, but she wasn't just about ready to lower her guard.

Soon enough Adam and a handful of his men comes rushing in response to the loud explosion, Taurus yelling out with anger "What the hell is going on here!?"

He quickly glances over to the large cloud of smoke that blanketed the area before him but within moments he catches movement and immediately afterwards the black armored giant that is Deimos lunges out of the cloud with his tomahawk in full swing, Adam reflexes kicked in giving him a mere second to react as he drew his Japanese chokutō, featuring an average length blood red blade, called _Wilt_ from his sheath that also acted as a gun, _Blush_ , and block the incoming hit with speed and precision.

The two blades scraped against one another, neither was gaining advantage over the other, but Adam clearly made this a personal matter with a threatening tone "That was the _worst_ mistake you've ever made."

The SPARTAN made no response and instead he increases the pressure on the White Fang leader who firmly held his ground.

Mercury and Emerald stood by Cinder with the latter asking in concern "Should . . . we do something about that?"

But Fall answered calmly "No . . . this is turning out better than I expected."

Deimos kept the pressure on until Taurus swiftly raises his left leg and forcibly kicks the SPARTAN away, sending him several meters back, before sheathing his blade and dash in for a killing strike. Deimos quickly recovers and spots his adversary closing in rapidly; he readies his tomahawk while switching his combat knife into a reversed grip hold, and makes an upward swipe with his axe in an attempt to dissuade his opponent but it failed when Adam drew his sword and make a leap into the air to bring the full force of his sword down on the SPARTAN. Both blades clashed once more but this time both combatants were ready for this dilemma, Adam produces _Blush_ at point-blank range directly aimed at Deimos's abdomen while the latter prepares his knife for a vicious jab into the former's chest. But both saw each other's counter attack and halt their own to deflect it, only for the two to break off at a distance.

The SPARTAN skips back several feet before giving his knife a casual toss, catching it by the tip of the blade, and throws it towards Adam while he takes aim and fires a round back at his opponent. The high velocity bullet made a glancing blow against the side of the LOCUS-Variant helmet, causing the round to essentially ricochet off into a different direction, and the knife narrowly makes a shallow cut across Adam's left cheek but he wasn't fazed by it as the knife flew past and embedded itself in the side of a wooden crate.

Both belligerents stood idly, Adam stood ready to lunge with his chokutō, Deimos ready to hack and slash with his tomahawk, and everyone else stood silently waiting for somebody to make the next move.

Several White Fang soldiers rooted for their leader "C'mon you can do it Sir!"

"-Take that freak down!"

"He's weak!"

But Adam barked sharply at them "Quiet!"

Deimos waited patiently for Taurus to make the next move, but Adam was now playing defensively with his sword sheathed as per his iaijutsu combat style, and after a certain amount of time he decides to take the initiative. After a brief charge up period, the SPARTAN suddenly launches with a powerful burst of speed with his boosters at full thrust causing him to run up to high speeds towards Adam rapidly closing the gap in seconds. The White Fang leader held his ground waiting for the perfect moment to finally end this ridiculous ordeal, Deimos drew ever closer with each passing moment until he came within range with his tomahawk raised high, and with the pull of a trigger Adam shoots his sword out and swiftly made a single cutting motion across the SPARTAN's mid-section, slicing the seven and a half foot soldier in half with lethal efficiency. But rather than a lifeless shredded corpse hitting the ground with a heavy thud, the figure suddenly vanishes into thin air, and without warning Adam was dealt a devastating blow to his side from an unseen force. Taurus was thrown onto the ground shocked just moments before he looked up and witness the SPARTAN materialize into view from nothing, his M6C magnum trained on his head.

Adam however wasn't about to give up so easily, bringing _Blush_ to bear once more and fire another shot into Deimos's right shoulder, and quickly leaped back onto his feet to draw _Wilt_ and take a swipe at the SPARTAN that was staggering from the shot he taken. Deimos spots the swinging blade coming for him and quickly brought his tomahawk in front of him to deny Adam the kill. The two men clash once more in a display of strength, neither side could gain the advantage over the other but they were determined to finish the fight one way or another.

Deimos breaks away and swings his axe in a full spin but Adam kept up his defenses, blocking the head with precision, and retaliates with a three-round burst fire from his rifle, neither could have hit the SPARTAN when he ducked low and dash off to his right as he prepares another attack. However this was soon thwarted when he notices the details on Taurus's body began to glow a bright red as he sheathed his blade in preparation for his final attack. Deimos wasn't going to allow his opponent the opportunity and quickly charges forward with his thrusters giving their maximum output rapidly closing the gap in mere seconds, he comes within range and leaps into the air with his tomahawk ready for the kill that he was intending to make. But his moment has passed just as Adam reached his full strength and, with a single swipe from his sword, created a shockwave that sliced through the titanium frame of the axe, the weapon itself wilted away in mid-air into a small display of rose petals, and sends the SPARTAN flying backwards onto the ground with extreme force.

Adam then closes the gap between the two and makes ready with his sword, intending to plunge it into his opponent's chest, while Deimos draws his magnum and trains it on his attacker's head. In a mere instant everyone froze, Adam's blade inches from the SPARTAN's chest and Deimos's finger gently squeezing the trigger, both could kill each other in the very next moment but soon everyone realized that after a well fought battle like such, both sides lost their interests in killing one another.

"You lose" Adam claims.

" **You got lucky** " Deimos retorts harshly.

Taurus sheathes his blade and extends his hand down to his opponent, who swipes his gloved hand away and steadily gets back up on his own, the two were staring at one another with disdainful glares behind their helmets and masks until they both heard a slow clap, and they look to find Cinder applauding them.

"Well done . . . you both should be proud."

"And why is that?" Adam asks bitterly.

"Well for once you have someone you can consider a challenge, and Deimos is beginning to discover his aura faster than we had hoped."

The SPARTAN looks over to the smashed crater in the concrete he created and asks " **Was that the cause of the crater? My aura further enhancing my physical strength?** "

"Correct, aura has many different uses but unlike many who don't use any methods of further improving that power, you used the crystal of dust to augment your already impressive attributes. Your augmentations, armor, training, aura, and the dust crystal has made you become nearly unstoppable, the ultimate weapon."

Deimos looks over his shoulder to see a disgruntled Adam Taurus walking away with his men before turning back and ask " **And my semblance?** "

"In time we will discover that but for now let's get you further acquainted, of course if you are with us you will need an ally at your side during any missions I give you."

She gestures with her hand to something behind the soldier, prompting Deimos to turn around and find this short four foot, nine inch, tall girl with her hair half brown and half pink with white stripes through it, and her eyes showed a severe case of heterochromia iridium as one of her eyes is brown, the other pink. She wore a white jacket over a black corset accompanied by brown pants, gray boots with very high heels, black gloves, and a small variety of necklaces she wore around her neck. It was also noted that she carried an open pink umbrella over her shoulder as she looked up to the comparatively towering SPARTAN with a gentle but confident grin. Her color scheme almost reminded him of Neapolitan ice cream.

Cinder introduces the two "Deimos, say hello to Neo, your new partner."

But Deimos said nothing and instead gave Neo an acknowledging nod to which she responds with a silent nod herself and held out his knife by the tip, he takes it and sheathes the blade.

Mercury comments "Yeah . . . she's not much of a talker."

" **Something I can manage** " he replies.

The two then walked side by side till they were standing in front of Cinder " **What's next?** "

"Next is an assignment I have for you. Taurus is becoming concerned about the growing Atlesian military presence and fear that his own forces will be inadequate for what we have planned. I need you and your new partner to survey the Atlesian staging area that resides in the Commercial District. Adam will give you further instructions when you arrive."

As she finished talking she produces a scroll about roughly the size of a small phone to Deimos, who took it and opened it up realizing that it is assigned to him as his personal device that displayed his icon, his aura, and several icons such as contacts, mail, and more.

He gently tucks the scroll away in one of his magazine pouches on his chest before continuing with the briefing " **When do we deploy?** "

"Tomorrow at noon, but for now I would like for you to continue developing your skills, adjust to your new abilities, and prepare for tomorrow."

The SPARTAN gives a respectful nod " **As you wish.** "

On that note Cinder waves the two off, prompting him to return to his room with Neo following close behind him, minutes later did he return and began to rummage through his UNSC supply crate to see what he still has. Everything seemed to be in order until he noticed one of his M9 HEDP grenades was missing, he began to search for the missing explosive until he heard a light thud, and turns around to see Neo tossing the grenade in her left hand like a baseball not caring if it had the destructive potential to obliterate the concrete interior they were in.

He didn't bother her to return the grenade back to him, feeling confident that she won't do anything stupid or reckless, and turn his attention back to the contents of the crate. And there was one last thing he hasn't checked.

He reaches in and pulls out the large crate labeled [Z-750] and began unlocking the magnetic bolts that firmly held the lid sealed shut, Neo continued to casually toss the grenade as she watched. After unlocking the bolts he slides the lid off and begins to examine the contents carefully before reaching in to grab a hold of something. Neo silently watched the SPARTAN produce a trigger handle from the crate, she raised an eyebrow trying to understand what he was doing until she saw something she never expected.

From the depths of the crate, multiple silver angular metallic fragments of different shapes and sizes levitate from crate and began to take form around the handle in Deimos's hand. Each fragment was manipulated by a sort of magnetic energy field as it was attracted to the handle, each piece fitting in like a jigsaw puzzle that took the shape of a massive rifle with what looked like to be twin barrels that glowed with an ominous orange surge of raw energy. The final pieces were coming together and Neo was taken back by the size of the weapon compared to the SPARTAN, a staggering near six foot long, among the largest she's ever seen.

The rifle featured a silver angular casing around the twin barrels, that were in fact twin particle accelerators for the weapon's primary firing mechanism, the rifle's scope seemed to be floating just inches from the top of the rifle held together by magnetic fields, several segments giving off an orange highlights, and what appeared to be a rotating cylinder in the center of the rifle's framework. This was Deimos's trump card.

The SPARTAN gave satisfaction behind his helmet as he lets out a relieving chuckle " **Hmhm . . . the Z-750 Binary Rifle, a weapon in a league all on its own reclaimed from the forgotten armories of Onyx. ONI did well to hide these from the rest of us, only to be idiots to allow one to fall into my hands. I suppose that is what happens when one puts a lot of faith in you.** "

He ran his left hand along the body of the rifle " **Seventy five inches long, capable of firing jacketed antimatter particles in a concentrated ionized beam, this will stop anyone and anything in their tracks. This is perfect . . .** "

He reaches down into the crate and draws a power cell in his hand, the central frame of the rifle splintered apart allowing the cylinder to appear before him, and inserts the cell into the magazine which gratefully accepted the cartridge with a amped up hum of energy waiting to be fired at its first victim.

However he would have to wait for his chance to use it on the huntresses that continue to be a pest to him, and he felt that time will soon come under the guidance of Cinder and the White Fang, for now he will do what they say.

 **Please leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.**


	14. Mission Directive

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 13**

 **"** **Mission directive"**

[June 7th, 2558]

[Industrial district, Vale]

[3:42 PM, the next day]

Rogue SPARTAN Deimos and his new partner, Neopolitan, were sprinting along the rooftops of Vale shortly after being deployed by Cinder and Adam from their warehouse hideout. Both moved with a sense of purpose, Neo teleporting across open clearings in white flashes to reach the next roof while Deimos uses his back-mounted Series-12 Jetpack to propel himself through the air alongside his partner, and carried no intentions to make any delays or halts in their advance to the commercial district. The SPARTAN was growing more accustomed to his newfound aura, the energy inside him was exhilarating even to him, he had noticed that this power had further enhanced his augmented endurance and resistance to damage he may sustain in the days ahead.

He glances over to his partner, running at the same pace he was alongside him, and he began to wonder what her story was. The fact that she was virtually silent the entire time makes his efforts to understand her extremely difficult, though it was the beginning of their partnership so this was to be expected, but a question now popped in his mind: How much does she know about him?

He pushes the thought aside as he began approaching another jump; he revs up his jetpack and breaks into a sudden burst of speed. Once he came onto the edge he exerts his strength into his legs and launches himself into the air before activating his jetpack for an extended jump across a bustling street below his feet.

He and Neo comes to a secure landing on the next roof and continues forward, the SPARTAN took a moment to read his tactical pad on his right arm before reporting " **Target is three hundred meters ahead, expect patrols.** "

Neo was running alongside him when she acknowledges with a nod and pressed forward, the two were closing in on their target which was an Atlesian staging area for city patrols and resource allocation but was also one of the few defensive outposts in the city that was installed shortly after the Grimm attack a while ago. The security of the city was tightened even further after his assault on Beacon which was supposedly one of the more secured locations in the kingdom, now it is nearly impenetrable through conventional means of entry. It seemed that the attack hasn't gone unnoticed throughout the city, every time he jumps over a street or an alleyway he would hear splinters of conversations through his helmet's audio receptors going on about wild conspiracies and concerns for their own safety in the matter. This was exactly what he wanted, to inspire fear and to show that there is something out there on this world that even the mighty hunters and huntresses cannot handle, and with his newfound abilities he was stronger than ever before.

They were finally on the last stretch to their target until they came to an immediate halt along a ledge of a two-story building and looked out upon the staging area that laid before them, the staging area consisted of a large city block that was fitted with all the essentials that a military installation needed, storage, barracks, landing pads, and perimeter defenses. The two studied the base layout a little further until Deimos reaches for his pouch and pulled out his scroll to contact Taurus, he presses his thumb against the yellow diamond and the device expands open before he was allowed to scroll through the very short list of contacts he had, consisting of only five people including Neo beside him, and presses the call button.

Several seconds passed before Taurus's image appears on screen and his voice crackled through "Have you arrived at the site yet?"

" **We've reached the staging area. Standing by for orders.** "

"Good, now listen. That staging area holds a portion of the military hardware present in Vale."

" **Is this a resource acquisition?** "

"No. I want you to infiltrate that site and get inside their storage bay; our informants told us that the Atlesians are keeping several production models of their Paladin line. Your scroll has a wireless tapper installed, once you get inside where the paladins are you are going acquire the frequency needed to remotely operate the robots."

" **Neo and I will get it done.** "

But Cinder's voice responded through Adam's scroll "No, while Neo is your partner she will not aid you on your first mission."

" **Am I still proving my worth to you?** "

"Yes . . ."

Deimos took a moment to look over to Neo, who stared back at him with a serious face, then asks " **Use of force?** "

Adam's voice returned "You will not kill or do anything to anyone, this is strictly stealth, I don't want anyone causing alarm over a missing person or a dead soldier."

" **Consider it done.** "

"Good" Adam replied just moments before the call was cut off.

The SPARTAN puts his scroll away before looking over to Neo who had hers out pointed at him with a small blinking red light, she was recording him, and gave a small slightly annoyed growl before activating his active camouflage and leap off the side of the building, it wasn't long afterwards when she received a call from Cinder "Neo . . . it's time to initiate _our_ part of the plan."

Neo grinned sinisterly as the call ended, with Deimos nowhere to be in sight she goes to her contacts and begins texting a message.

[4:02 PM, Beacon Academy]

In the dorm building of the academy, teams RWBY and JNPR were standing around as they try to formulate a plan to track and fight the rogue Deimos.

" _It is certainly odd that someone like Deimos would suddenly go quiet after destroying half the academy_ " BB remarked as he thought about the past several days.

"So he has to have a reason for doing so" Weiss adds.

Ruby wondered "What do you think it is?"

"How should I know!? I woke up to him nearly killing me!"

Despite Weiss's sudden flare up Blake theorizes "With his command gone he's probably trying to regain his strength and plan another strategy."

" _He maybe a wild animal but he isn't an idiot. He's becoming more aware of your abilities so I extremely advise caution._ "

"Coming from the AI that works with him" Schnee bluntly puts.

Ruby tries to reassure her partner of the AI's standing on the situation "Weiss, BB isn't with Deimos otherwise he would've taken him."

" _Oh if she doesn't trust me that's fine. I suppose I'll just erase all the homework I done for her._ "

Schnee quickly turns to the scope that lay in Ruby's hands "Wait- you did my homework?"

" _Mhm, I had to occupy myself with something._ "

"Oh . . . Uh well- I guess he can't be that bad . . . right?"

" _That's what I thought._ "

At that moment Yang's scroll chimed signaling that she received a message, she pulls it out and found out it was sent from an anonymous user, and she began to read the message:

[ _Hey Blondie, it's J. Listen, I been doing some digging around with some of my other contacts and I think I found out where that Deimos freak is hiding out. I can't send the details over the line with any potential taps on my scroll; it's too risky for business. Come meet me in the commercial district just outside the corporate sector as soon as possible, I'll tell you what I know from there_.]

Jaune noticed Yang's eyes were fixated on the message "What is it?" he asks.

"A message from my friend-"

"Your friend from the club?" Blake assumed.

"Yeah . . . he says he has something on Deimos and that I should meet him in person."

"Where?"

"Outside the corporate sector."

Pyrrha asks "When?"

"Right now . . ."

Jaune took note of something that didn't seem right "Doesn't it sound weird that he's asking you to come out into one of the quietest areas at night instead of his club?"

"He said it's not good for business, and if I know Junior best then he always puts business ahead of everything else."

Pyrrha stood up and volunteered to come along "I'll come with you."

Yang stood up as well and began walking for the door "Alright let's go."

"Stay safe . . ." Ruby comments as she watched the two walk out, worried for their safety in these dangerous times.

[5:56 PM, Atlesian Staging Area]

Under the cover of his active camouflage and the orange evening sky, SPARTAN Deimos lied in wait under one of the landing platforms that were propped up on several support beams sturdy enough to hold the weight of a transport shuttle. The base was thick with soldiers, constant patrols blanketed the perimeter making it difficult for him to move even when cloaked, the storage bay he was supposed to get into was always on constant watch, and to make things worse he couldn't do anything to the soldiers otherwise he risk giving away his position to everyone who had a rifle in their hands. He glances over to find Neo, with full black hair, blue eyes from he was able to make out, and her Atlesian uniform that he had no clue on how she gotten it, on the far side of the base next to several stacked barrels and a pair of soldiers, making up a fake report on her scroll or perhaps making a report on him, either way she looked busy to everyone else so nobody bothered her.

He could really use the assist from his partner right now but he knew he's done this alone before in the past, a number of times before, and all he had to do was plan a way to get inside. He looks over at the warehouse and expected there to be more guards inside, keeping a close eye on the mechs. He also had been watching long enough to know the guards changes shift every hour so far, to prevent the troops from becoming bored he assumed, and that the standing guards would go inside for their next duty, that was his window. He only needed to wait a few more minutes until the next pair of guards arrives to relieve the two standing soldiers.

He waited patiently for the arrival of the replacements when he finally spots them making their way across the open grounds of the base, both were chatting and laughing but he could care less about it, and eventually they reached their posts where the four began to talk. Now was the time to move. He quickly stands to from his crouched position and began making his way over to the door using what protection his active camouflage offered, and closed in on the four guards, he eventually started to pick up what the four were talking about.

"So what's the deal between you and that flower girl over on 33rd street?" one soldier wondered.

Another stammered "-What me!? I- It was a friendly hello that was all."

"Ah huh, right. You know when you were starting to walk away she had that look in her eye. Think she likes you."

"Wait really?!"

"Yeah."

The third began to laugh "Hahaha maybe when you go on leave you should ask her out!"

"Should I?"

And finally the fourth "Heck yeah man, it'll be fun!"

"Huh . . . I guess I could go find her later . . ."

"That's the spirit Garret!"

"Right well, we should get to our next assignment guys."

"Agreed, see you all soon."

On that note the two replacements took their posts and the others open the door to move on through. However when both troopers passed, one of the replacements felt that something else just passed them through the door despite not seeing anything at all, he took a brief moment to look around to see if anything was out of the ordinary but nothing turned up to note. Eventually he stood back into position and remained on guard.

Deimos had already passed through the open door just as it closed and quickly moved off to the side behind several barrels and munitions crates to get a better idea of what he was dealing with here. Out in the middle of the bay were three paladin mechs, all sporting a more refined look with a black and white color scheme, being supported by several scaffoldings that surrounded each suit. Atlesian soldiers were scattered and few but they all had fairly decent vantage points that would help with their patrols, taking little effort to spot anything that wasn't supposed to be there, such as him. Now was the time to move onto his primary objective.

With his camouflage still active he slowly crouch walked over to the first of the three paladins, falling to a knee afterwards next to the large mechanical feet, and pull out his scroll to initiate the frequency acquisition. With several presses on the tab he began transferring data from the mainstream network the entire Atlesian Military was based upon into his scroll, he had access to field reports, research data, private meeting transcripts, weapon schematics, ship designs, tactics, and general orders. The Atlesian network was a complete joke, even making the insurrection that pestered the UNSC look far more sophisticated than they should be. He had everything at his fingertips and more, however his scroll would be able to only hold so much data therefore he went on with the orders and downloaded the frequency upon which the Paladins and Knights operated on. He remained there patiently as he watched the stream progress; bit by bit he was gaining the data he needed until several minutes later when the download was finally complete.

He tucks the scroll back into his pouch and proceeds to leave the storage bay, however there was only one problem, he needed to wait again for another entire hour. He gives a brief sigh and returns to his hiding spot next to the door behind the stacked crates and barrels before setting his back against the crates, shortly he felt he needed something to preoccupy himself, and pulls out his scroll again. He started to go through the very short list of contacts he had:

[Cinder]

[Adam Taurus]

[Neo]

[Emerald Sustrai]

[Mercury Black]

Out of curiosity he presses on Emerald's tab and the screen brought up her contact information as well as a picture of her, he glanced through the information before returning to his list of contacts. His hour of wait was cut short when the door opened almost immediately after he got comfortable and found Neo walking through, still dressed in her officer uniform, holding onto her scroll still making up the report when she looked around hoping to find him. He briefly deactivates his active camo, long enough for her to notice he was sitting by the crates next to her, and cloaks himself again as she motioned him with her head to start following her out. He got up and proceeded to follow her out, passing through the door to find the two soldiers saluting to their 'officer' and return to normal duty. The two were silently making their way out of the base as nonchalantly as possible, if someone discovers one minor hiccup with Neo's uniform or has a good eye to spot the invisible SPARTAN then everything was going to go south real fast.

But fortunately everything went off without a hitch, the two were able to pass the exterior gate and head across the street into a dark alley with no one even noticing, Deimos lowers his camouflage stating to Neo " **I got it.** "

She grinned to that as she reverted her disguise back to her regular clothing in a white flash, the SPARTAN made no comment and revs up his jetpack to launch himself up onto the rooftops that surrounded him. He launches upwards with one single bound and makes a clean landing on the rooftop just as Neo essentially appeared right behind him without him noticing.

He gave her one brief glance before stating " **Let's go.** "

She didn't need to be told, she was already sprinting ahead of him preparing to teleport across the first street, he gave a brief grin before he sprints after her. He rushes towards the ledge and vaults over the empty street via jetpack, seeing Neo jump across the next street ahead of him, and continues to sprint for the next jump. Shortly after he rockets across the next street when he noticed his partner had stopped, when he landed on the next rooftop he slowed down to a jog and came to a stop next to her.

He noticed she was looking down the street to her left, he asks " **What is it?** "

She made no reply and instead pointed her finger out, he followed it looking far down the street that had no ending and caught a small glint of light approaching, upon further inspection through his helmet's binocular scope he finds it to be none other than Yang Xiao Long and Pyrrha Nikos riding the street on the former's personal bike. He looks over to Neo, waiting for the approval to engage, and she gave a pleasing nod accompanied by her usual confident grin. He gave an amused chuckle before casually stepping off the ledge and fell to the streets below.

[Further down the street]

Yang was driving under the speed limit through the dark quiet area of the Commercial District as she and Pyrrha were closing in on the corporate sector where they were supposed meet Junior to get information on Deimos.

Nikos held onto Long when she raised her voice over the bike asking "You think your friend is reliable!?"

"If he thinks Deimos is bad for business, which he is, then I'm sure Junior will try to sell him out!"

"-Wait! What's that ahead!?"

The two peered ahead into the dark streets before them and spotted something walking out onto the road before coming to a full stop in the middle. Yang wasn't sure to slow down or keep going but when she drove close enough for the figure to come into the light of her bike, she no longer had the option. The rogue SPARTAN Deimos stood in the middle of the dark street with his legs spread out and his arms ready, almost taking the pose of a sumo wrestler ready to take on an equally heavy opponent.

Without a second thought the bike collided with the SPARTAN, taking him several meters back with his feet scraping against the pavement and the bike began to slow down until it came to a full stop despite Yang pushing down on the throttle. Deimos with all his might let out a struggling roar as he lifts the roughly four hundred pound vehicle with the two approximately one hundred and forty pound girls on board, the ability to lift the bike off of its tires was a testament to his augmented and enhanced strength. He meant business this time.

Pyrrha and Yang gave the SPARTAN no chance to take advantage of the ambush, quickly leaping off the bike and put distance between themselves and him before he threw the bike aside sending it crashing onto the sidewalk.

Afterwards Deimos gave a small sigh that slowly turned into a sinister chuckle as he looks at his opponents and ask with satisfaction " **Who wants to have a rematch?** "

Yang drew her scroll and tried to contact Rose or anybody, only to find their signal was being jammed from an unknown source, the SPARTAN only grinned at their dire situation.

The two huntresses drew their weapons, with the expectancy of another fight for their lives, when Pyrrha stated "We have you two to one, this isn't a fair fight for you."

Deimos grinned behind his helmet " **On the contrary, this** ** _is_** **a fair fight. But if you want an unfair fight then . . .** " just as Neo appeared from behind him, casually twirling her pink umbrella over her shoulder, the SPARTAN then opened his arms " **Now you got one . . .** "

Yang immediately recognized Neo, her eyes narrowed on her, stating "You!? He's working with you!?"

"You know her?" Nikos wondered.

"She was on the train during the Grimm invasion those weeks ago!"

"Is she dangerous?"

"Very."

"Wonderful . . ."

The SPARTAN interrupted the two " **So. Who's first?** "

Yang and Pyrrha glanced at one another before Nikos dashed forward in a sudden burst of speed, gunning right for Deimos himself, until she came within striking distance, with her _Miló_ in its xiphos configuration, and swung her sword towards the SPARTAN who promptly threw up his left gauntlet just in time for her blade to clash with his armor, his shields flared brightly before simmering while the two metals scrapped against each other.

" **And we have a volunteer . . .** "

Yang Xiao Long quickly loads the first shells into her golden gauntlet with a quick thrust of her fists and open fired sending a volley of red glowing projectiles screaming towards the SPARTAN but Neo swiftly skips in the way and opened her umbrella which took all of the shots on impact without a hint of damage. Yang clenched her teeth becoming already annoyed with her adversary's confident smug as Neo brought the umbrella back over her shoulder without a care in the world.

Without any further saying, Neo strides over to Yang to fight while Deimos shoves Pyrrha away from him before drawing his combat knife in preparation for her next move. Nikos glances over to see Yang now heavily engaged with Neo, throwing punches and swings while her opponent either dodged or deflected the blow effortlessly, and turns back to Deimos asking "What is the point of all this? What is it that you plan to achieve!?"

The SPARTAN began closing in on her with his knife ready " **The point is that I get to watch this world burn just like I always wanted.** " He quickly swings the blade towards her throat but she leans back, allowing the titanium carbide blade to fly by harmlessly, before coming back slamming her shield against his right shoulder that he threw up in time to take the hit.

She manages to hold her ground in her struggle against him "And that's the only reason you need to kill innocent people!?"

He didn't respond and instead began to press down against her, causing her knees to buckle until she used her semblance to blast the seven foot armored giant away giving her the time to ready herself. Deimos however quickly recovered, after being blasted away he acrobatically secured his footing through a small series of backhand flips, and charges her at full speed coming in like an enraged bull. He cocks his right arm back and sends it flying towards the huntress who swung her shield up to take the hit, the augmented fist came crashing against it with enough force to punch a hole through a reinforced concrete wall. The hit knocked her down to a knee before she jumps back up, swiftly swinging her sword in an uppercut fashion, and landed a clean cut against the SPARTAN's shields that ultimately failed and left his armor exposed. She immediately follows up with another bash with her shield against his chest that caused him to stagger back until she made a quick sweep of his legs with her own, knocking him onto the ground on his back.

She closes in to ensure his defeat but he plants his hands underneath him and sends his two feet rocketing towards the huntress who had only enough time to bring her shield to bare and take the full hit, sending her skittering back several feet, and allowing himself time to stand to and reengage.

Yang throws a rapid right hook followed up with a left uppercut towards her opponent who continued to effortlessly deflect her blows one after the other with quick movements of her umbrella while she delivered lightning fast strikes with her high heeled boots. Each hit the blonde huntress took only mad her angrier, becoming unrelenting in her attacks, and quickly grabbed Neo by her left arm and proceeded to send her flying into a brick wall but the silent fighter effortlessly released her opponent's grip on her and through very swift movements she found herself behind Yang and delivered a hard side kick to the huntress's back. Xiao Long stumbled onto the ground before getting back up to see Deimos drawing his battle rifle from his back and open fire on Pyrrha who used her shield to deflect the incoming semi-armor-piercing rounds. She turns back to her opponent who stood there idly and with an angered roar she fires her gauntlets behind her, launching her to high speeds, and swiftly closed in on Neo in a matter of seconds before throwing a hard right hook which was dodged effortlessly much to her frustration.

Nikos was thrown back several feet, after Deimos had managed to get a hold of her and fling her away, but she quickly recovers from the fall and configures her weapon into rifle mode before firing a single shot that slammed into the faceplate of the SPARTAN's helmet. The super soldier's head recoiled back as he staggered for a brief moment before giving an annoyed growl and step back into the fray swinging his knife at her which she deflects with her shield and follow up with a strike across his chest with her sword. The blade leaves a long carved line across his center chest but the armor held and only angered the SPARTAN even more, moments later he activates his camouflage and fades into the night.

Pyrrha stood on high alert, her shield and sword raised and ready to act, as she surveyed the area around her. She could see Yang still dealing with Neo with no results and as much as she wanted to help her she knew it would leave herself open to an impending attack.

"STAY STILL!" Yang Xiao Long bellowed as she threw a right hammer arm, intending to smash Neopolitan's head right into the ground. But Neo expertly deflects the blow with her umbrella and delivers a swift spin kick to Yang's right leg, causing her to fall to a knee, and follow up with a hammer kick to the top of her head sending her crashing into the ground beneath her.

Pyrrha called out "Yang!" and rushes to her aid, but her moment of rescue was abruptly ended when the SPARTAN appeared out of the darkness from her right and rams into her like a runaway train.

" **Not a chance!** " Deimos roared as he drove Nikos into the side of a concrete building, the wall cracked and splintered under the sheer force of Pyrrha's back hitting against it, and send a rapid right uppercut into her exposed gut.

She grimaced in pain before she swiftly coils her legs and shot out with her boots slamming against the SPARTAN's helmet. She then moves to close the gap and swings her sword high but Deimos was able to recover faster than she had hoped and threw his left hand up catching the blade before it could've tore into his body. Pyrrha's eyes widen, she tried to break away but his grip on her sword was now unbreakable preventing her escape, but she tries to force him away with her shield in a vain attempt. However he catches the shield by the rim and strips it from her arm before engulfing her wrist in his giant gloved hand. She attempts to break free but there was no chance of that happening as long as he had a hold of her, she was at his mercy now.

He moved his head up to hers, her face was inches away from his skull-like helmet, and asks " **Do you know what has changed since our last encounter?** "

"Let go of me!" she barked as she struggled to free herself.

" **Can't you feel it? The power that resides in me?** "

The more she continued to struggle the more she began to feel the raw untapped aura of the SPARTAN, she began to gradually stop herself and ask in fright "How? How are you able to have an aura!?"

" **Aura is the embodiment of the soul, which every human and faunus possesses. You should know that I am very much human** ** _and_** **a monster.** " The warmth in his hands begins to intensify, nearly burning her arm.

She resumes struggling and with her semblance, she was able to overcome his strength and blast him away with polarity. The SPARTAN landed six meters away on the pavement and quickly corrected his landing before he felt something in his right hand, he looks to see his aura visually massing in his palm until it began to take the form of a small lick of flame. He concentrated his strength into his arm and the aura quickly massed into a ball of intense searing fire the size of a basketball, he grinned and began to laugh upon the discovery of this.

Nikos watched the enhanced SPARTAN-lV with eyes widened as the he held the flame in his hand before turning to see her. Then with all his might he hurls the ball of fire towards her, sending whistling through the air like an artillery shell until it came crashing at her feet with explosive results, however she was able to leap backwards before grabbing her weapons via semblance and prepare for another round. Deimos only gave a brief burst of laughter as he conjures up another crude ball of flame and lob it at the huntress who used her shield to take the hit and charge at him, the SPARTAN mimicked her move and began to sprint at her as well with balls of fire in each hand. One by one he hurls another projectile at her, which only impacted and dissipates against the durable shield, until he came within striking range and perform a rapid hammer kick that knocked her only defense down. However she quickly retaliates with a upward thrust from her weapon, now in javelin mode, but he effortlessly skips to his right and delivers a heavy fist into her left side before she came back around with her shield in full swing. He steps back fast enough to avoid the blunt weapon and conjures up another ball before throw it her way, she spots the incoming projectile and ducks below it before blasting the SPARTAN away with another burst from her semblance, however her over use of polarity was beginning to weaken her.

Deimos was thrown back a ways before he stood back up with his M6C magnum in his right hand and another fireball in his left, he then begins to charge once more as he hurls the ball and open fire with his pistol sending a combination of fire and armor piercing rounds downrange onto the huntress who was beginning to falter. He closes the distance faster than she would've hoped and launches a right spin kick that slammed against her shield and knocked it out of her grip leaving her exposed. She responds with changing her weapon into rifle mode and fire a round into her attacker's chest at point blank range, the stopping power of the dust round made the soldier recoil but only for a brief second until he came back with his magnum holstered and another ball of fire in his right hand driving it straight into her stomach area. The fire made a direct hit against her body and she was sent hurtling backwards until she came crashing down onto the pavement, the leather armor that covered her torso was scorched and blackened, and laid there unconscious and defeated.

Yang was already back on her feet and throws another fist towards Neo before she looked over to see Nikos lying on the ground badly hurt and Deimos standing over her victoriously, she turned her attention to him and roar "GET AWAY FROM HER!"

The SPARTAN only stared back at the enraged huntress and taunts her to come make him, she eventually lets out a deafening cry that signified her unadulterated anger as her eyes turned blood red, and she launches herself towards him with blinding speed with the pure intent to kill. Deimos swiftly kicks up Pyrrha's shield and use it to block the unimaginably heavy blow Xiao Long had launched, the shield worked flawlessly in his favor and he returns the favor with a hard blow to her right arm with the shield before tossing it aside and deliver another strike with his own fist against her face. Yang reeled back in pain but before she could've reacted she watched the SPARTAN swiftly move next to her, lift her left arm over his right shoulder, and forcibly shot his shoulder up against hers that ultimately led to a loud crack of bone and the dislocation of her arm before he lets go of her allowing her to fall to her knees with eyes full of shock. She had lost.

Neo was casually walking over to the downed huntress when she pulled on her umbrella's handle and drew a concealed blade from the umbrella, she casually walked over with the intent to finish off the two, but Deimos waves a hand at her signaling her to stop " **No. Our orders are not to kill. Besides, I prefer they dwell on this defeat.** "

Neo, seemingly bummed out, sheathes her blade and takes a step back while the SPARTAN stepped over in front of the shocked Yang and kneeled down in front of her. He stares into her lilac eyes that weren't even focused on him, the breaking and dislocation of her right shoulder caused a lot more traumatic damage than he had thought, and gives a small sigh of disappointment.

He then warned her " **Take note of this loss, Yang Xiao Long, I'm growing stronger with each passing day and my time of running is over. If you or any of your friends try to stop me again, there will be casualties. Do I make myself clear?** "

But she didn't respond, she didn't even look up at him as he waited for an answer, eventually he reaches into one of her pockets and pulls out her own scroll before tapping on the yellow diamond and began going through the list of contacts until he found Ruby.

He presses the call icon and waited as the scroll chimed for a response, several seconds later Rose's voice answered "Yang? Did you find Junior? . . . Yang?"

The SPARTAN holds the scroll up to Yang's head for her to answer, "Yang?" Ruby asked again before her older sister stuttered "R-Ruby?"

"Yang!? What's going on!? Where are you!?"

Deimos sighed again and pulls the scroll away from her to him and answered " **Commercial District, outside the corporate sector. Don't bother with coming in force, I'll be gone by the time you arrive.** "

"Deimos!? What did you do to my sister!?"

" **They'll be here when you arrive** " he finishes stating before pressing the end call icon and set the scroll on the ground in front of its owner.

He then glanced over to his partner " **Let's go.** "

She nods in agreement and teleports herself to the nearest rooftop while the SPARTAN gave one last look to the defeated huntresses before starting up his jetpack and launch himself up onto another rooftop. The girls remained there, Pyrrha unconscious and Yang crippled, until sometime later when their friends and allies came to secure them and take them back home to reassess the situation and the new threat that was presented before them.

 **Please leave your thoughts and comments. Thank you.**


	15. Recovery

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 14**

 **"** **Recovery"**

[June 8th, 2558]

[Infirmary, Beacon Academy]

[11:28 AM, the next day]

Yang silently laid in her bed watching the rain outside pour down onto the academy, raindrops rolled down the window pane, she hasn't been her normal self since Deimos broke her arm last night and it certainly was no fun sitting around there with nothing to do. But aside from her utter boredom she was relieved to know Pyrrha would be alright, who laid in a bed next to her as she read a comic book Jaune had been invested in.

Long gave a weary sigh and slipped down underneath her blanket, hoping to sleep the day off, until she heard Pyrrha ask "Still feeling bummed out?"

"What do you think?" Yang retorts as she pulled the cover over her and laid her head against the pillow staring out at the window.

"I don't really need to answer that" Nikos replies already knowing the answer to that question.

At that moment a knocking came on their door, seconds later it cracked open letting the members of RWBY and JNPR in, Ruby silently walked up to her older sister and asks "You doing alright Yang?"

"Yeah sis, I'll be fine" she answered glumly.

Jaune approached Pyrrha and asks with caring respect "How you feeling Pyrrha?"

Nikos pulls the blanket off her, revealing the bandages that covered her torso from the chest down, and answered with a half grin "It could be worse, I'll be fine Jaune."

"That's good to hear Ms. Nikos" a familiar voice spoke, everyone turned to see Professor Ozpin entering the room calm as ever and asks "Though I don't suspect Deimos was capable of inflicting first degree burns through your armor. Please, describe what happened last night the best you can."

Pyrrha pulled the cover back over her body and began "We were on our way to meet a friend of Yang's who said he knew where Deimos was hiding out, he wanted us to come out and meet him outside the corporate sector. But on our way there we were ambushed, by Deimos and someone else."

"Someone else?" Ozpin queried

"Yes . . ." she looks over to Yang "She knows her."

Yang sighed and sat up despite the discomfort in her arm "Her name is Neo, or at least that's what I heard someone call her. She was on the train that brought that Grimm invasion a while ago."

"I see . . . please continue."

Nikos went on "We tried to call for help but somehow Deimos was jamming our signal, we were able to hold them off for a while until he did something we were hoping never came true."

"The burns?"

"He has an aura, Professor- he has the ability that we all share as hunters and huntresses. After that I couldn't hold my own . . . and I lost."

Everyone glanced at one another in the room, knowing the rogue SPARTAN-lV has become more dangerous than ever and the feeling was quite unsettling, Ozpin states "Then it's worse than we fear" he turns to Yang "And afterwards he broke your arm?"

Yang nodded silently, he then adds "Well on the better side, Ms. Nikos will be ready to go by tomorrow evening. Ms. Long, you will need a few more days before your arm is fully healed."

The blonde huntress had to grin to that, she was relieved.

"In the meantime, I suggest you come up with a strategy to find him and take him down. I also recommend that everyone must stay together if you want to capture Deimos."

Everyone nodded in acknowledgment just as the professor strode out of the room and allowed the students to spend time with their injured friends.

[1:43 PM, Industrial District]

"Where is he?" Adam Taurus growled furiously, eager to get the debriefing done and over with so that he could resume his daily duties.

Cinder was calmly standing by when she answered "There's no need to rush, he still finds it fascinating to understand his own power. . ."

"He can understand his own power later, we need that data now."

" **And you'll have it** " Deimos spoke as he entered the room where the debriefing was being held, Neo walking in behind him.

"Finally. I need a full report of what happened."

Deimos stopped several feet from the White Fang Leader, he glances over to his new boss who nodded in assurance which allowed him to produce his scroll from his ammunition pouch and hand it over to Adam who then handed it over to a technician for analysis.

Deimos vaguely reports the mission details " **We arrived at the target around four o'clock in the evening and infiltrated the base without detection. Neopolitan provided overwatch under the guise of an Atlesian officer while I entered the warehouse and began the download, after that we proceeded to exfil and leave the AO. However we were shortly encountered by two huntresses, we incapacitated them and bugged out.** "

"You allowed the huntresses to live!?" Adam roared in utter anger "Now we got them to worry about!"

But Fall defended the SPARTAN "In all fairness, the huntresses have been after our friend for some time now."

Deimos adds " **I was also strictly adhering to the orders, not to kill. If I had killed them they would send more after me, which will eventually lead them to you.** "

Taurus grumbled, both his associate and the SPARTAN had their points, and eventually gives up with a sigh "Fine . . . you didn't do too bad for your first mission and thanks to those huntresses, I think I have a better idea for what missions you'll be good for. You're dismissed for now."

The soldier nods in acknowledgment and proceeds to leave without a word, once he had left Neo decides to follow him out.

Deimos moved through the short hallway and out into the main storage area of the warehouse, seeing White Fang and supplies moving about without disruption. He glanced over his shoulder to see Neo but didn't bother to stop and ask and continued onwards without a care. He eventually enters another hallway that leads him to his own room where his equipment lay, several more silent moments has passed and finally the two were back in the small storage room where Neo sits down on a small metal chair that had been provided to her while the SPARTAN sat down on his UNSC ordnance crate.

The two were deathly silent, Neopolitan watched her partner from her corner as he sat with his arms resting on his knees and his head bowed down as if he was saddened or in deep thought, eventually Deimos reaches for his back waist bag and produces the small flip lighter with the initials ' _D.J._ ' engraved in the side. She watched curiously as the SPARTAN-lV sociopath gently caressed the lighter in his hand, seemingly transfixed by its mere presence, it became obvious to her that he was a wounded man on the emotional level, someone who had lost something long ago. He gives a mournful sigh of depression as he continued staring at the lighter, until he muttered something under his breath which Neo couldn't pick up but didn't bother to investigate.

" **I'm so sorry . . .** " he whispered to himself, not wanting his partner to hear him and think of him as something pathetic.

A voice echoed back to him in his mind, feminine, calm, soothing, surprisingly it only brought minor discomfort to his head " _You shouldn't feel sorry Adam . . . there was nothing you could've done for me._ "

" **I failed to protect you . . . both of you . . .** "

" _You did the best you could. I know you did._ "

" **If I did my best then I would've been dead. I should have gone first . . .** "

" _No_ " the voice responded firmly, a sharp pain shot through the SPARTAN's head but he only grimaced underneath his helmet " _You did what you thought was best, you couldn't have known what would happen_."

" **And because of that mistake I have to live with it. Keep everyone away and do what I'm best at: Kill, destroy, make everyone else feel the pain I feel, because I'm not a soldier, I'm not even human anymore . . . just a shadow of a broken person, a monster.** "

The voice suddenly became loud, causing an immediate splitting headache that caused the SPARTAN-lV to fall to his knees and roar out in anguish " _You're not a monster stop saying that Adam! You're human! Humans make mistakes all the time! That's what makes us human!_ "

" **RAAGH STOP IT! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?** " Deimos bellowed much to Neo's sudden shock of surprise.

" _I WANT YOU TO MOVE ON ADAM! MOVE ON WITH YOUR LIFE AND FORGIVE YOURSELF!_ "

" **I CAN'T!** "

"YOU CAN! YOU JUST DON'T WANT TO!"

" **I CAN'T FORGET ABOUT YOU! I CAN'T EVEN FORGIVE MYSELF! AAGH MY HEAD!** "

Neo quickly stands to and approaches the rampant SPARTAN before she attempts to rest a hand on him, however he forcefully swung his arm at her and sent her flying into the wall next to the door which opened and allowed three soldiers to walk in.

"What's going on!?" the White Fang soldier called out just upon seeing Neo on the ground and Deimos going through a psychotic break.

He then gives the order to his to accompanying men "Restrain him!"

But it turned out to be their worst mistake when Deimos caught them in his sight, perceiving them to be immediate threats, and lashed out at them with his knife drawn. The closest soldier had the blade ran through his abdomen followed up with a concussive blow to the head which rendered him unconscious and bleeding out. The second tried to take a step back but Deimos leaped onto him with his left gloved hand firmly wrapped around the man's neck, the third soldier ran to warn the others, and deals another heavy blow to the man's chest knocking the oxygen right out of his lungs. He brings his knife against the soldier's throat ready to slit until Neo comes back and delivers a spin kick that collided with the SPARTAN's head sending him skittering across the floor until he hit his back against the wall. Afterwards she watched as her partner fell to his hands and knees, pawing his helmet off like an animal, and begins to stumble back and forth with his two hands firmly clasped around the top of his head muttering something.

Adam Taurus and Cinder Fall quickly returned, the third soldier behind them, with the former yelling "What happened!?"

He quickly finds two of his men on the ground injured and the SPARTAN huddled next to the far wall, he turns to Cinder stating "I told you he's a danger to us! Look what he's done to my men!"

Fall however was oddly still calm "Everything has a reason . . ." she then looks over to Neo who produced her scroll and played the recording she took after being knocked aside, the two leaders watched Deimos panic and yell just before the three soldiers arrived where he then proceeded to attack them, what surprised them was the immense speed and ferocity he implemented into his attack that only lasted a second.

"So . . . our friend is more troubled than we thought" Cinder assumes.

Adam unlocks his sword stating "I'll do him a kindness and end it."

But she threw her arm out in his way "Let me handle this . . ."

She then calmly walks over and kneels down next to him, she could hear him repeat himself under his breath "I'm so sorry . . . I-I'm so sorry . . ." and wondered who he was apologizing to.

She then places her right hand under his chin and raised his head up to hers, her amber eyes looked into his orange, an effect from the unlocking of his aura and the dangerous method of augmenting his body with the bright orange dust crystal, and saw the immense amount pain he had been masking behind his helmet for so long, then with her left hand she caresses the side of his head but it showed little effect, he seemed to calm down for a moment but his eyes were still darting across the room and his body was trembling.

She then hushed him ever so softly "Shhh . . ."

Adam was surprised to see Cinder acting like a mother to him, comforting him like he was her own son, it made him realize that she was investing a lot of interest into him enough to try and bring him back to sanity but what really surprised him was her next effort, one that worked flawlessly. She raises his head a little closer and gently placed her lips against his, she watched his darting eyes grind to a halt, his balled up fists seemed to unclench themselves, and the trembling stopped. All of the pain and thought he had was immediately flooded out by this warm sensation that flowed through him as his body eased. The moment lasted for a few seconds more until she broke away and looked down to see her soldier now comforted and gradually coming back to his normal self.

She then reassured him of his allegiance "Remember who you belong to now. Me."

She releases his head which dropped for a moment before he looks up at her, seeing the confident grin she always had, and responded firmly "Yes . . . Ma'am."

Afterwards Neo walks over with his helmet in hand, she hands it over to Cinder who then fits it over his head which resulted with the sealing hiss of pressurized air. She stands up to her feet and backed away allowing Deimos a moment to himself before he steadily got up onto his own two feet, towering over the others, and give one last breath of discomfort before giving a confident nod to his associates.

Cinder then turned to Taurus "See? He only needed a little comfort."

"Tch" Adam grunted before he walks out of the room while several soldiers came to see to the injured.

She then gestured the SPARTAN to follow "Come Deimos, we should continue with your training."

Afterwards he willingly follows her out of his room, he looks down and picks up the lighter he had dropped during his episode and tucks it back into his back waist bag, and Neo silently follows in behind.

[2:51 PM, Dorm rooms]

Teams RWBY and JNPR had gathered in the former's dorm room to develop an immediate course of action that will act as the final solution to their problems, more or less to get back at Deimos for knocking Weiss unconscious, attacking Beacon Academy, and injuring Pyrrha and Yang.

"Well it's been clear to us, on several embarrassing occasions, that we can't take on Deimos alone or much less as a separate team" Jaune clarifies realizing the utter need of teamwork.

Ren noted "We have the attack strategy down, our only problem is not being able to reach each other in time whenever one of us encounters him."

"So . . . we just stick together the whole time?" Ruby wonders as she sat on her bunk with BB resting in her lap.

Weiss was sitting underneath her "Of course we have to stick together, otherwise we'll just get humiliated again" she retorts.

"So we form a large group and search for him that may take days if not weeks at a time until we find him, then we all take him down. Doesn't sound too bad . . ." Blake states with a gentle grin finding the relative success of this plan.

Ren and Jaune nodded to that in agreement while Ruby looked down at the scope in her hands and asks "What do you say BB? Think it'll work?"

" _Well if you want my personal opinion, this is your best shot at detaining Deimos. However there's one thing you don't realize_."

BB managed to catch Belladonna's attention when she asks "And what's that?"

" _The UNSC itself._ "

Arc was next to query "What do you mean?"

" _SPARTAN Deimos and I work for the same organization, ONI, and it's common procedure to send out recovery teams in the case of an agent going rogue or gone missing. Such as the case with us._ "

"So the UNSC is sending someone to get you?" Ruby asked

" _As per recovery missions and protocol, yes. Though given the danger Deimos represents, I estimate they will deploy a fireteam of SPARTANs to apprehend him. However with his newfound abilities I fear he may have the power to stand up against second-generation SPARTANs with little difficulty._ "

"So we'll be expecting trouble soon then" Blake assumes.

" _Possibly. But then again my creator hasn't labeled me as missing or rogue, probably because I'm still fulfilling my duties. It's strange to realize he hasn't erased me after I first talked to you weeks ago._ "

"Yeah why is that?" Schnee wondered.

" _I suppose my creator is now using me for personal benefit, remember when I mentioned he favors psychology and human behavior? From what I'm assuming, he finds you all to be ripe with different personalities compared to the men and women from where we're from. They were normally dull and grey, but you all are full of . . . how do I put this- color. You're all full of colorful personalities._ "

"Aw thanks BB" Ruby chimed as she gave the ORACLE-N scope a gentle hug.

" _I suppose this is what I get for being nice . . . very well_ " the AI states, his voice muffled in Rose's arms.

But Blake gets everyone back on the real topic "So we just let the problem crumble under its own weight? Let the recovery team take Deimos?"

Jaune reminds the group "BB said that Deimos is capable of dealing with other SPARTANs, recovery teams won't stand a chance against him."

Everyone paused for a moment wondering what they could do in order to secure Deimos, until Ren openly speaks his mind "What about a joint recovery with the UNSC?"

Every single person turned their eyes to Lie Ren with Nora asking "You're serious right?"

"Think about it we both want the same thing, Deimos, if we can find the recovery team before getting to him then we stand a much better chance. The only problem is trying to find something that wants to stay hidden."

" _Well I'm afraid that while your plan was well thought- it won't work anyways._ "

"And why is that?"

" _Because I just received word from my creator that the recovery team are preparing to make landfall soon, and will be closing in on Deimos's location. All we could do now is wait and hope they get the job done._ "

[8:14 PM, Remnant's low orbit]

Aboard the UNSC _High Up_ , a Sahara-Class Heavy Prowler measuring at two hundred and eighty one meters long loaded with enough ordnance and men to take over a small city, Major Obadiah was standing in a briefing room with Fireteam Raptor consisting of four SPARTAN-lVs donning jet black MJOLNIR armor signifying their affiliation with ONI Section Zero, Internal Affairs.

The team leader was the Caucasian male named Joel, sporting the ENFORCER-Variant armor and armed with a standard issue MA5D Assault Rifle, who was something a marine wanted to be. Strict to orders and always prevailing through firefights with resolve. Second in Command was Sandra, wearing the AIR ASSAULT power armor with a M395 DMR latched to her back, her technical mind could match that to her expert precision with her rifle and oversaw the logistical needs of Raptor. Next to her was the team's close quarters operator, Hark, who was utilizing the BREAKER armor with the addition of his M20 Sub-Machine Gun. And finally the weapons specialist, Farley, who was using the HELLCAT variant and carried a M20 to supplement his M279 SAW attached to his back.

"Welcome Fireteam Raptor" Obadiah began "You've been brought here for a high priority recovery mission."

"What could possibly cause so much trouble for ONI to send out a team of SPARTANs to deal with?" Farley bluntly wonders.

"Another SPARTAN that's gone rogue" the Major answered as he brought up a holographic projection of the runaway soldier on the holotable that sat between them "SPARTAN Deimos, as he prefers to be called by, had been operating on this site for roughly eleven years until a week ago after disobeying orders and gone rogue."

The fireteam closely examined the armor and details as he continues "Deimos has been known to be a tactical brute in most combat scenarios, utilizing strength and quick thinking to eliminate his opponents, but he also has a habit of using stealth in combat."

Joel asked "So what happened?"

"Why don't I show you."

He presses a couple of keys on the table and brought up the city of Vale to view "Over the course of the last month he was under explicit orders to remain discreet and perform surgical strikes against targets we given him. However after one particular encounter with a team of huntresses in training disrupted his movement you can say he took it quite personally, from then he began blowing up random targets at his own will without the thought of alarming more to his presence. This was our last known radio contact with him a week ago."

The major began to play the recording as so:

 _"_ _SPARTAN Deimos, what in god's name on Heaven and Earth do you think you're doing?"_

 _"_ _ **Completing my objective, by the end of the next planetary rotation those huntresses will no longer be a problem for us. Sir.**_ _"_

 _"_ _Not anymore you're not, after you defied my explicit orders to not arouse any more attention and ended up blowing up half the city, I'm pulling you out for immediate debrief and reassignment."_

 _"_ _ **They were necessary actions, I needed to acquire the tools in order to conduct this operation. Who would've cared for the deaths of extremists?**_ _"_

 _"_ _Obviously everyone does, they also cared for the fact they you destroyed public property. You are to report to the designated rendezvous point where a pelican will be ready to take you back to High Up."_

 _"_ _ **No. Sir.**_ _"_

 _"_ _What was that SPARTAN?"_

 _"_ _ **Cancel that bird Major, I'm completing my mission whether you like it or not. I'm not about to abandon the mission because of a few misunderstandings.**_ _"_

 _"_ _Misunderstandings!? Adam are you listening to yourself right now!? Pull back now! That is an order!"_

 _"_ _ **Too late to stop now, the charges have been set and there's no going back to deactivate them.**_ _"_

 _"_ _You what!? Adam this has gone too far! You're stirring up some serious trouble in ONI right now and if you don't exfil this instant! You will be considered an enemy of the UNSC!"_

 _"_ _ **I am not straying from the mission. That is final.**_ _"_

 _"_ _Fine. Have it your way. Major Obadiah, out."_

The recording then ended, the Major adds "Since then there's been no word from him. However we were still able to monitor his movements thanks to his suit's onboard IFF transponder, he's currently hold up in one of the larger abandoned warehouses of the city's industrial sector. Your orders are to roll on the target, secure Deimos by any means necessary, and proceed to the rendezvous coordinates set outside the city where there will be a pelican to pull you out. And I don't need to tell you that stealth is the upmost importance here, I don't want to stir up any more trouble with the local populace than there already is."

Sandra stepped up asking "Sir, what's our method of entry?"

"You'll be hard dropping from _High up_ down into the bay near the docks, that should allow you to infiltrate the city undetected. No pods, no pelican. Once you secure an isolated landing zone, our pelican will provide you the means of transportation. Now, SPARTANs, are your orders clear?"

The four super soldiers threw up their hands in a strict and composed salute "Yes Sir!" they all responded.

"Good, you'll be dropping immediately. Make your way to the hangar for deployment."

They gave their understanding nods as they put on their helmets and marched out of the briefing room.

As the SPARTANs made their way through the narrow corridors, crewmen having to step to the side to allow them passage, Sandra wondered "So we have a SPARTAN going rogue because he got upset that a couple of girls got in his way? What could be possibly be in his mind to make him do that?"

"I dunno, maybe we should ask him when we get the chance" Farley answered as he walked behind her.

Hark then asked "Before or after this guy rips you a new one? Sounds like this one can hold his own pretty good."

"And how would you know that Hark? Met him before?" Joel queried as they eventually began to approach the ship's hangar.

"Well if you hadn't read up on your mythological history, Deimos was one of two sons belonging to Ares- the Greek god of war- and was the personification of sheer terror as he head into battle along with his father's attendants, trembling, fear, dread, and panic. If this guy wanted to be called after that then it's obvious that he has some serious mental issues which means we'll have to do this the hard way. No talking our way through this one."

Farley chuckled "Do we ever?"

"No . . . I suppose not."

Sandra then draws up a brief summary "So ONI has sent us to recover a rogue SPARTAN that calls himself after a Greek god that inspired fear into his enemies millennia ago."

"Sounds about right" Joel commented just as he presses a door switch which caused a hatch to swish open and allow them entry into _High Up's_ single ventral mounted bay under the ship.

The hangar was fairly small, only large enough to fit a single pelican dropship, but fortunately for the SPARTANs they didn't need a dropship to get to the ground.

Over the ship's intercom system they heard the Air Traffic Control officer announce "Disengaging safety locks and opening ventral bay doors, standby."

The hangar floor beneath the SPARTANs then began to slowly open up with alarms blaring and the view of a vast lit city situated next to a dark ocean that must've expanded infinitely. Sandra personally liked the view and took a mental picture in her mind, the view was gorgeous with Vale being just a small bright spec in the surrounding darkness as if it were a beacon. The winds from the high atmosphere rushed in through the hangar, they were all hit with the sudden gust but only Farley was the one that took a step back, and almost immediately afterwards a altimeter display came up on everyone's HUD showing their estimate height at little over twenty eight thousand meters from the ground, roughly eighteen miles, which placed them somewhere in the mid stratosphere.

A bridge crew officer spoke through the intercoms "Standby for drop."

The SPARTANs could feel the ship rumble beneath their feet as the prowler slowly moved into position only under at a slow steady pace with its optical camouflage systems still active, if one were to look up at the night sky they would only see the crackled moon and gentle clouds floating by. The reason for their slow speed was that if the crew increased the power output to the engines or any other system that wasn't required it was likely they would appear on the scanners of any nearby Atlesian warships, and the captain of the _High Up_ has made it abundantly clear that despite the sheer difference in technological advances he wasn't going to put up a fight with a ship of similar size.

The team got their last look at the city from above until the intercom chimed followed up with Obadiah's voice stating "Fireteam Raptor, the light is green."

One by one they sprinted for the open hangar bay and leaped through into a freefall state from the cloaked ONI prowler, their altimeter was rapidly declining at a steady rate the rush of wind pulled and shoved at their bodies but they maintained a firm posture to ensure they don't fall off course with their arms swept back and their legs spread apart.

Joel quickly ordered through his helmet's communications system "Sandra, comms check."

SPARTAN Sandra took a moment to authenticate the channel before reporting "Comms green."

"SPARTAN Hark online."

"SPARTAN Farley on station!"

"Acknowledged Raptor, fall in behind me and keep tight. We'll make a run for the bay."

"Let's hope it's not shallow . . ." Hark remarked as he examined the body of water.

"And let's hope it's not too deep" Sandra added.

The four falling soldiers formed up behind their team leader, doing so carefully as to not collide with one another, and continued their way down to the dark waters below. Joel couldn't help but watch the city below, the many lights glistening ever so brightly it proved to be quite mesmerizing to him as it was something he hardly ever see, but he quickly reminded himself of the mission and focused on the dark waves that was coming up fast.

It was at that moment when they flew past a pair of giant bird like creatures, it nearly scared them all seeing that it just suddenly appeared out of the night like that given their black feathers, but what struck them odd was the white bone like plate covering their faces and red glowing eyes. Fortunately however the birds did not notice them pass by.

"The hell were those!?" Farley cried out over the radio.

"Indigenous obviously, though I never seen anything that big before" Sandra responded rather calmly but at the same time intrigued.

But Joel ended the brief conversation "No time for birdwatching, water's coming up fast. Prepare to brace."

The dark waters was approaching fast but before they made impact the SPARTANs utilized their thruster jets to reorient themselves from a head first glide to a feet first dive bomb.

"Brace!" Joel barked just seconds before he and his team slammed into the water plunging themselves all the way to the bay floor which was roughly twenty meters deep.

The water pressure gave a bit of a squeeze around their bodies but each member didn't notice it given their bodysuit that protected them from temperatures and pressure.

Joel glanced around the floor, seeing nothing but scattering fish and the ground beneath him, before he called out "Raptor report."

He catches the faint glow of a SPARTAN's helmet flashlight coming on followed up with a voice coming from Farley "I'm here."

Then Sandra's voice "Green."

And finally Hark "Ergh remind me to never attempt a belly flop at that height, SPARTAN or not it's going to hurt like hell."

Joel had to grin on that one, Hark wasn't one to complain but when he did it made the team laugh a little, but he quickly returns himself to the mission at hand "Alright, the docks should be forty meters west of us, move out Raptor."

They begin to push onwards, slushing through the water and dirt as they made steady progress towards the docks. From there they'll receive transport and close in on their target.

[8:56 PM, warehouse, Industrial District]

Swiftly and with little focus, SPARTAN Deimos performed a variety of kicks and punches at his imaginary target in rapid succession with his hands engulfed in balls of fire that could cause a lot of bodily damage should he land a successful blow. Cinder and her two associates- Emerald and Mercury- watched the SPARTAN become more faster to his movements, more atone with his own power, as he cuts through the air until he deals a supposedly lethal jab with his right hand and end his exercise.

"Very good" Fall applauded him with a gentle clap "You're becoming more in synch with your rising power."

The SPARTAN started to rub his wrists when he answered " **It's only because of you that I have come this far, without you I might be dead or weak.** "

"Then let's be thankful for that, but you still have much to learn in such small time."

" **You have another assignment for me?** "

"Soon. For now let's keep going. You've seem to be handling your offensive abilities but now I believe it's time to move on to your defensive attributes."

Deimos stood quietly listening to her instructions "Your armor have shown to be extremely durable against the most devastating attacks with only minor cuts and dents afterwards. With enough concentration you may be able to improve on your already impressive defenses."

" **So I can form a protective barrier like you did back at the Academy?** "

"Something like that, but note that maintaining a barrier like that will drain your aura and your strength leaving you vulnerable to attack. Surely you can find a way to further augment your armor to deflect attacks without weakening yourself."

" **What do I have to do?** "

"Try and focus on the aura that surrounds your body, feel it, and improve upon that power."

Deimos looked down at himself, unsure of how to perform such a feat but thought that there was possibly a way to do it. He begins to concentrate on himself but his moment was brief when he heard a distant cry out of pain that was ended abruptly. He and the others glanced over in the direction of the cry when they heard automatic ' _pffts_ ' followed up with more men screaming in agony only to end short.

Quickly enough a solder called out "Intruders! Get the- ACK!"

Deimos began to walk towards the commotion that erupted into gunfire which prompted him to break into a jog with haste. He had to run through a series of shelves and shipping crates until he came to a corner and spotted four black armored SPARTAN-lVs engaging White Fang troops in brief firefights which ultimately led to the many hopeless deaths of the latter.

One SPARTAN wielding a DMR quickly puts two armor piercing rounds into the chest of a hostile gunner before looking over to him and call out with a female voice "Eyes on target!"

At that moment the other three turned and trained their weapons on Deimos, each with a cold deathly stare behind their helmets but none of them could match the seriousness of their target. Cinder and the others, along with Adam and numerous soldiers, gathered several feet behind their new ally with some of their weapons raised as well. It was a Mexican standoff.

One of the SPARTANs, wielding a suppressed MA5D assault rifle, roared out "SPARTAN Deimos stand down! You are absent without leave!"

Deimos carefully examined their armor, jet black in color, no other notable marking except for the half black and white pyramid with the all seeing eye in the middle, and notes " **You're ONI, Section Zero.** "

"That's right and one way or another you're coming with us. Drop your weapons and put your hands up!"

But Deimos made no movement, he found this to be quite intriguing despite expecting this moment from ONI for a while now " **Your kind isn't welcomed here. I suggest you turn and leave before something happens.** "

"Like one SPARTAN can go up against four, you won't win!" the SPARTAN wielding the SAW assured everyone.

" **Who said it had to be only a SPARTAN?** " the rogue soldier remarks as Emerald and Mercury stepped up next to him.

At that moment he turns his head back halfway and asks in a calm and collected tone " **What are my orders?** "

Cinder knew he was talking to her and with a confident grin and a soul piercing glare from her amber eyes she gave her command "Kill them."

The SPARTAN then turned his sights back on the ONI recovery team and with a low threatening tone he obliges her request " **As you wish.** "

 **Please leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.**


	16. Loyalty

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 15**

 **"Loyalty** **"**

[June 8th, 2558]

[Warehouse, Industrial Sector]

[9:06 PM]

" **As you wish** " Deimos responded, a grin showed with pleasure underneath his helmet.

The rogue SPARTAN suddenly breaks into a charge darting straight for the ONI SPARTAN recovery team at surprising speeds. The fireteam only had a split second to raise their weapons and open fire sending a violent spray of armor piercing gunfire; a few wild shots would harmlessly pass the inbound rogue and unintentionally strike an unfortunate White Fang soldier leaving them wounded or dead. Deimos was ducking and weaving through the hailstorm with precise efficiency as if he was rehearsing this very moment for the past months until he came within feet of Hark and deliver a powerful right hook that connected with the SPARTAN's lower helmet and sent him skittering across the floor till stopping meters away. Joel watched in shock knowing no SPARTAN could've had that sort of strength Deimos displayed, save for maybe a second generation super soldier, but he had to put the frightening thought aside and take aim but before he could pull the trigger he was harshly kicked in his side by a foe he did not see and fell to the floor before looking up to see who his attacker was. Who he found was a short girl, roughly four feet tall, pink and brown hair, and armed with a pink umbrella standing over him with her weapon resting on her shoulder and a wide devious grin across her face, Neopolitan.

Sandra was beginning to take aim on Neo but quickly noticed Emerald closing the gap between her armed with a pair of Kamas, and she became forced to redirect her aim onto her attacker. She pulls the trigger and fires off a semi-automatic burst of rifle fire towards Sustrai but the green haired duelist effectively dodged and weaved between each round and came within striking range of Sandra with her two Kamas in full swing aimed for the SPARTAN's head. She ducks below the swinging sickles and skips back, slapping her rifle onto her back in exchange for her standard issue combat knife, but Emerald remained on top of her with her right Kama coming down forcing Sandra to throw her left arm up to block the attack. The blade made contact with the titanium alloy gauntlet but Sustrai still had her other weapon, converting her left handed sickle into its revolver configuration, and swings it up to the SPARTAN's helmet with her finger squeezing the trigger but Sandra was just as fast as she swipes the gun out of her hand with her knife. The two then entered a swift and furious duel of blades with neither side proving to be the quickest of either.

Farley readies his M739 SAW to mow down the attackers in a spray of bullets but he quickly spots a hostile contact coming towards him on his motion tracker and turns to see Mercury Black in a dead sprint towards him with no obvious weapon in hand. The weapons specialist turns his aim and opens up with a barrage of high volume fire from his LMG, the M739 spewing 7.62mm full metal jacket rounds at an impressive nine hundred rounds per minute from its standard issue seventy two-round drum magazine. Mercury saw the wall of lead barreling towards him and swiftly dash out of the way in a sudden burst of speed before closing the gap and launch a hard hitting right side kick that slammed into the SPARTAN's side with enough force to knock him down to his hands and knees, the SAW skidded away from reach. Farley balled up his right hand into a fist and came around swinging up with speed striking Black in his left side, Mercury staggered from the hit but he quickly came back and engages the SPARTAN-lV in close combat.

Joel quickly stands to with his rifle in hand and takes aim at Neo, skipped back with surprising speed, and began firing in short accurate bursts but for every time he thought he had his target, Neopolitan would immediately teleport from place to place in a white flash effectively dodging every shot fired from his rifle. His MA5D ran empty which forced him to quickly reload and resume firing but this time his attacker teleported left and right in between each individual 7.62mm round as she rapidly closed the distance between her and the SPARTAN leader. Neo makes one last teleportation and appears right in front of Joel, who instinctively readied his rifle and swung down intending to knock her unconscious, but she teleports once more and attack from behind with a high kick to his center back which knocked him to the ground. His augmented reflexes dictated his retaliatory response, drawing his suppressed M6H magnum on her head, and fired two rapid shots but she effortlessly ducks out of the way and knocks the pistol out of his hand with a swift kick. Immediately afterwards he jumps back onto his feet and throws a fast right hook towards her but she proved to be much faster than he when she redirected the blow with a single swipe from her umbrella, he then attempts a roundhouse kick which she playfully twirls out of the way before she closes up her umbrella and deliver a stunning series of hit from the back of his right leg, left elbow joint, and the right side of his helmet in rapid succession.

The SPARTAN staggered back a few feet and drew a heavy breath knowing this was going to be much harder than he had hoped. The only thing he could focus on now was this little girl and the confident smug that was on her face.

[9:11 PM, Dorm Rooms]

Both teams RWBY and JNPR sat silently in the former's dorm room, waiting silently for BB to report the results of the ONI operation in capturing Deimos, while each individual did something to preoccupy themselves. Ruby, Jaune, and Nora were sitting on the floor playing a relatively silent of Remnant: The Game with neither side seemingly gaining the advantage over the other in a simulated war of attrition. Weiss sat silently on her bed petting Zwei who was spectating the game from where he was sitting panting with his tongue out, Schnee could only hope the SPARTAN recovery team will complete their objective and leave for good though the latter part was a little farfetched knowing the UNSC would probably never leave Remnant if they were the secretive type of people she thought they be. Blake was deathly silent as she laid on her bunk bed reading one of her books, her eyes skimmed across each line as she read, but the thought of Deimos besting ONI still lingered in the back of her mind. Lie Ren leaned against the wall near the door with his eyes closed hoping things will go as planned, though his mind was already at work creating a plan if the worst scenario comes to reality.

"So when do you think the recovery team will catch him?" Weiss asks as she watched Zwei.

Arc answered as he examined the game board "Hopefully soon, it's your turn Ruby."

Rose closely examined the deck of cards in her hands and drew one "Time to go on the offense, I prepare my Atlesian fleet to attack Nora's Nevermore in the Kingdom of Mistral."

Valkyrie laughed "Ha! Your airships won't last long against my flock of Nevermore! Prepare to taste defeat- and it is tasty!"

"Hah! Maybe for you!"

Jaune only sighed and grin in amusement, it was good to know someone can still have a good time despite the grim circumstances, he turns his attention back to the cards in his hands and resumed playing. Weiss looked up to Blake, who was deeply involved in her book, and then to Ren, who looked like he was sleeping but was simply meditating, neither had anything to say or do.

She then looked to the ORACLE-N optical scope sitting next to Ruby and something poked her interest "What can you tell us about the UNSC BB?"

" _The United Nations Space Command serves as the military, exploratory, and scientific element in the UEG- or United Earth Government. The UNSC has full control over all military assets within human space ranging from a mere soldier to vast fleets of starships, it still serves as a major power holder for the time being thanks to recent events._ "

"How recent?"

" _Recent enough . . . is there anything else you like to know? Things that aren't restricted information perhaps?_ "

Jaune had a query "What about the SPARTANs? Why would people want to become something like Deimos?"

" _In all honesty, Deimos is an odd variable among the SPARTANs. Most you would come across are rather quite compassionate for a fellow human, seeing it is their sworn duty to protect humanity no matter the cost even if it meant their own lives. Given the limited data I have on our mutual marauder is he's not even qualified to become a SPARTAN._ "

"So why is he one?" Ruby wondered.

" _If only I knew. My creator has limited my knowledge by a great degree. I'm only telling you what I know, and it's not much._ "

Ren was finally the first to notice something about the way the AI talked "You keep mentioning 'human' as if they aren't the only ones in the galaxy. Is there something you're not telling us?"

Everyone turned their attention to the scope, even Blake's attention was grabbed, as they waited for the answer " _. . . There are other parties standing on the galactic stage- though the threat was effectively extinguished as of roughly six years ago._ "

"What is it you're not telling us BB? What could possibly be out there?" Ruby asked, now feeling somewhat worried for another potential problem.

" _Well I prefer not to unsettle you with gruesome details, but to say the least there is something far more worse than Deimos and the Grimm . . ."_

"Can you at least give us a name?" Weiss wondered.

BB reluctantly obliged " _They were simply known, as the Covenant. And they were humanity's greatest threat in all of known history._ "

Everyone shared a concern expression with each other; the more they began to learn about their galaxy the more they became afraid, knowing that if the UNSC considered this 'Covenant' a major threat then they would stand no chance against such an unimaginable force.

The AI noticed this and adds " _But it is quite astounding that during our great war with the Covenant, neither side had found your little world. You must be very lucky . . ._ "

Blake's mind quickly noticed something "Wait you said the UNSC have been here before, during _our_ great war about eighty years ago. But now you say that you haven't found us until recently."

BB knew she had caught onto his little lie, he figured it'd probably be best for him to explain " _Well, the truth is we only discovered your world eleven years ago in the closing years of the Human-Covenant War which lasted roughly three decades. During our earlier conversation in regards to SPARTANs a while back you all mistaken the thought that we participated in your great war which ended well before ours began, I thought at the time it would be best if you weren't aware of 'greater powers' in the known galaxy and let you assume that we were merely a undiscovered faction. All for the purpose of avoiding this- your constant worrying, it actually saddens me to see you all like this._ "

Jaune was actually surprised "Wow, who knew you could feel emotions and that you really care about us . . ."

" _I blame you all for that. Mainly Ruby._ "

Ruby looks down at the scope by her side "What did I do?"

" _You made me actually like you after a short period of time._ "

"Aww!" Ruby exclaimed as she sets her cards aside and hug the scope "I like you too!"

" _And this is what I get . . . Should've seen it coming._ "

Everyone seemed to grin seeing Ruby hug the scope, the thought that a UNSC-made artificial intelligence and a little girl could have a sort of friendly relationship such as this made everyone hope that a more peaceful relationship between the kingdoms of Remnant and the UNSC can be achieved. They could only hope.

But for now they can only wait for the receive word of the recovery team, Ren wanted to know "So who's apart of this recovery team they sent?"

" _Four fourth-generation SPARTANs are currently on active deployment at the moment and currently my creator has kept me I the dark relatively speaking, I know nothing about these soldiers which is per ONI protocol. As I mentioned, my creator has limited my knowledge to ensure even the most closely guarded secrets remain that way._ "

"Do you at least think they have a chance against Deimos and Neo?" Weiss queried.

" _We can only hope now can we? As we all witnessed, Deimos is a tactical brute that poses a significant threat to the people of Remnant and to the UNSC given his recently acquired abilities._ "

"Well what do _you_ think?"

The AI hesitantly gave his personal opinion " _I'm afraid our dear recovery team doesn't stand a chance . . ._ "

[9:15, Industrial District]

"FIRETEAM RAPTOR, FALL BACK!" Joel barked before sending a spray of bullets downrange as he and his team was already being heavily engaged by their target and his two associates.

He and Hark were doing their best to subjugate SPARTAN Deimos while Sandra took on the green-haired girl who made good use of her Kamas and Farley having a brawl with the grey-haired boy who was delivering fast rapid attacks with his feet. Sandra had her combat knife drawn when she clashes with Emerald and her sickles and became locked in a struggle of strength which she quickly won until Sustrai skipped back a few feet and fired a quick burst from her sickle turned revolvers forcing the female SPARTAN to fall back and return fire with her DMR as rounds impacted her shields. Mercury Black deals another blow to Farley's head with one of his swift high kicks, the heavy weapons specialist staggered back several steps before quickly drawing his M20 SMG and take aim but Black dashed in towards him and seized his trigger hand holding it high so that the gun aimed upwards when it fired. He then proceeded to shoot his right knee up into the SPARTAN's abdominal region and finish up with a right roundhouse kick that sent Farley falling onto his back with his gun now in Black's possession.

Mercury took a very brief moment to examine the weapon, small, compact, fitted with a suppressor over the barrel and a telescopic sight fitted on a sliding rail, though he quickly lost interest in the weapon and looked over to Deimos, who viciously kicked Joel away after a fast hard-hitting left hook to his helmet, and calls out "Hey big guy!" before tossing the close quarters weapon over to his SPARTAN ally.

Deimos looks up to see the weapon soaring through the air and quickly delivers a heavy right hammer fist that collided with Hark's helmet, forcibly knocking him flat out on the ground, before reaching his hand out and catch the weapon. Joel was already back on his feet just in time to catch his target aiming a fully loaded gun at him and dove for a set of metal crates that sat next to him the moment Deimos pulled the trigger and sent a barrage of armor piercing full metal jacket rounds downrange. Hark began to recover from his momentary daze after being struck down and found the rogue SPARTAN nearly standing over him which prompted him to quickly grab Deimos's right foot and yank it from underneath his body, causing him to lose balance and fall over.

As the rogue fell onto the concrete slab Hark readied his knife and pounced onto his target with the intent to kill, seeing Deimos too dangerous to be kept alive, but Deimos reacted swiftly and coiled up his legs before shooting them out slamming his feet against Hark's chest. The BREAKER-clad SPARTAN was forcibly thrown back several feet away before he, and the rogue, scrambled to his feet and quickly retreated back to his team while Deimos prepped a ball of fire in his left hand and lobbed it over like a hand grenade. The members of Raptor spotted the incoming projectile and all broke apart to avoid the resulting explosion which had twice the explosive force of a M9 HEDP grenade.

Joel knew this going from bad to literal hell in a handbasket and ordered "Raptor fall back and form up on me!" as he and Farley pulled out a smoke canister and tossed them over in front of Deimos where the two emitted a large cloud of grey smoke.

At that moment the members of the fireteam activated their camouflage and regrouped near their point of entry of the warehouse, away from Deimos and his associates, and hid behind a series of shelves. Farley and Hark kept a close watch out, peering through the spaces of shelves, while Sandra took a moment to catch her breath and Joel attempted to contact _High Up_.

He spoke in a whisper with alarm "UNSC _High Up_ this is Raptor-1 come in over?"

There was a momentary pause before his radio crackled to life and the major's voice came through "This is Raptor-Actual, what's your status?"

"Sir, we've made contact with the target but he's not alone. We're heavily outmatched down here and are requesting assistance ASAP."

"Negative SPARTAN" Obadiah responded "We cannot expend any more resources on this mission or we risk exposing ourselves to the general population."

Hark whispered swiftly "I got movement, thirty meters out- it's him."

Joel continued "Sir, this _thing_ is hunting us. They did something to him."

"What do you mean?"

"He's more dangerous, capable of throwing fireballs at us like it was nothing. We can't do this alone- we need help."

The major hesitated, he wasn't expecting Deimos to find friends so quickly and the thought that somehow he gained a massive advantage over SPARTAN-lVs within such a short timeframe was frightening enough, but he collected himself afterwards and states "I understand the situation SPARTAN, but we are in no position to offer support . . . but I uh-" he stopped himself, not sure if what he was about to say next would be the proper course of action "- I advise you to disengage and regrou-"

The voice was abruptly cut which caused concern among the team "Raptor-Actual do you acknowledge? Major?" Joel asked as he tried to keep in contact.

But all he got was a garbled response that was being interfered "Fa—b—k a- ret- we- bui—an-t- Beac-n- t-" and the comms fell silent afterwards.

"Dammit" the fireteam leader cursed "I lost the Major, what the hell happened?"

"Sounded like someone's jamming us, I'll give you three guesses who" Farley answered.

Joel growled lightly before he glances over to Hark "You still have him Hark?"

"Negative . . . I lost him."

"Shit. Alright team I need all our corners covered, we can't afford another brawl like that."

Sandra was already watching a flank when she looked over her shoulder and asked "Where do we go from here?"

Joel tried to think for a moment, trying to piece together what Obadiah said before the transmission was interrupted, he knew he heard the word 'Beacon' in the garble and the only beacon he was aware of is the academy. But it didn't quite make sense to him, ' _What's so important about Beacon?_ ' he wondered, he needed time to formulate their next plan but he knew that time wasn't the luxury he had at the moment.

Then he gave his order "We're pulling out, we can't take Deimos here so we need to lure him out onto even ground."

"Got a place in mind?" Farley asked.

"The Major mentioned Beacon before the comms went down, so that gives us an idea."

"The Academy?" Sandra wondered but she quickly caught on why "Of course . . ."

Hark asks "Alright, so how do we ge-" his question was cut short by a set of heavy footsteps approaching, one they recognized as a SPARTAN.

Everyone quickly fell silent, the footsteps were closing in on them at a steady pace, but Joel needed to know "Anyone have visual?"

"Negative."

"I got nothing."

"Nothing Boss."

The fireteam leader began to look around as well, not finding any movement whatsoever which frightened him inside, but it wasn't long until he spotted a shimmer before it disappeared from view roughly ten meters out. Deimos had found them, and he was closing in.

"I got contact, ten meters out my side. Get ready" he ordered calmly fearing the inevitable.

The other SPARTANs acknowledged the warning, felling the same tense anticipation as their leader, and maintained a very close watch over their avenues of view. But none reported movement, they practically saw nothing as if Deimos literally disappeared entirely from existence, the footsteps fell silent and that was proving to be painstakingly frightening for them despite maintaining their composure. Each passing second was grueling and unforgiving, taking a toll on their minds as they waited in silence wondering who would be the first to be his first target, and they were starting to hope he had passed them without notice.

As much as Joel hoped for that possibility, he knew Deimos wasn't careless or stupid, and in a mere instant he hears an abrupt and deafening crashing of shelves and crates that was followed up with Hark's very brief cry of fright. The other members quickly turned just in time to see Deimos charging through the shelves like a bull lunging at Hark who instinctively took a step back but the rogue was far too swift and drove his super-heated combat knife into the other's abdomen, the orange glowing blade pierced the SPARTAN's energy shielding and tore a gruesome gash with smoldering flesh cauterized by the searing heat. Hark dropped his weapon in shock and quickly tried to fight back but his target simply had him at sheer disadvantage when he deflected a poor retaliatory response from Hark and forcibly twisted the SPARTAN's neck that severed the spine and neural lace. Hark was dead in a matter of milliseconds, and Raptor couldn't have done anything to save him.

"HARK!" Sandra cried out in shock as Hark's lifeless body crumpled to the floor, Farley quickly however charged the rogue in anger, slapping his SAW onto his back and ram Deimos into another shelf, but the sociopathic SPARTAN in response swung his arms down onto his attacker's back and knocked him down to the floor.

It wasn't long until Deimos had flushed everyone back into the open and Joel had to quickly intervene before Deimos could kill another member of his team, firing off a six round burst that collided and broke the rogue's shields before he throws his assault rifle against his head. Deimos effortlessly swats the thrown rifle aside but Joel proved to be quick on his feet when he tackles him to the ground immediately afterwards leading the two to go into a rough scuffle on the concrete. The two SPARTANs traded punches and shoves as neither one could gain the advantage over the other until Joel deals a heavy blow against the side of Deimos's LOCUS helmet and reach into his own waist bag revealing a handheld armor restraining device nearly the size of the palm of his hand. Afterwards it became a shoving match with Joel trying his hardest to ensure the armor restraint gets attached to his target's chest while Deimos did the same to make sure it didn't knowing that it would be all over if Joel won.

Sandra quickly ushered Farley back onto his feet and the two were beginning to go help Joel in capturing their target,, but their moment was cut short when she received a high caliber dust round to her right shoulder that caused her to stagger away a couple of feet. The two SPARTAN hunters looked in the direction the bullet had originated from and found Emerald with both of her revolvers aimed directly upon them, one of the guns had a small trail of smoke leaving from the barrel.

Sustrai, and Mercury Black standing alongside her, grinned and said "Let's leave the boys to their toys, you and I finally have something to talk about."

Sandra couldn't have agreed more "Alright, let's gossip" and charged with combat knife in hand.

Mercury assumed his combat stance, sharing the same kind of confident grin Emerald had, and calls Farley out "C'mon tin man, I'm going to have fun breaking you down."

The SPARTAN growled under his breath and follows Sandra in with a shock baton, pulsating with a blue electrical charge, in hand. Sandra swings first with the butt of her rifle, the lightweight titanium frame of the M395B DMR should prove sufficient to deal a debilitating blow that would render her opponent unconscious, but Emerald effortlessly performs a power slide beneath the rifle passing the SPARTAN and makes a simple swift swipe at her back leaving a fairly large but shallow cut across her armor and bodysuit. Sandra stumbled for a brief moment before she placed her hand behind her back and felt the gash Sustrai created, then she turned around and gave a lowly annoyed grunt before she readies herself and reengages.

Farley swings for Mercury's legs but the grey-haired fighter swiftly jumps over the electrifying baton and deals a hard right spin kick that made contact with the SPARTAN's head causing him to collapse onto the floor momentarily dazed. However the ONI agent got back up onto his feet rather quickly and attempts another attack, starting from a charge which made Black skip back a few feet but Farley stayed right on top of him and deliver a stunning swing with the baton that slammed against his right arm. The hit shot an immense surge of electricity throughout Mercury's body that caused intense sharp pains to occur but Black was able to remain capable and responded with a heavy butterfly kick that impacted against the SPARTAN's right shoulder and waist. However to Mercury's surprise Farley was able to recover surprisingly quick and deal another electrical blow aimed for his left thigh, Farley's body had been subjected to intense physical conditioning and stress measurement during his training and augmentation to become a fourth generation SPARTAN which made him nearly unfazed by most physical attacks save for the most lethal. Mercury grimaced in pain as he stumbled for a brief second from the hit but recovers shortly after and swings another high spin kick directed towards his opponent's helmet, but the super soldier had finally caught up to Black in terms of speed and manages to block his foot with his right armored gauntlet and pauldron before he sends a third debilitating strike that smacked against the attacker's side. Mercury's body was having a hard time coping with the devastating hits from the shock baton and quickly made that his target, he skips away to place distance but Farley was coming in fast which was something he was relying on. When the SPARTAN raised the baton high for another attack Black goes into a back cartwheel with his feet in full swing, knocking the weapon clean out of Farley's gloved hand, and follow up with a swift low leg sweep that caught the super soldier by surprise as he fell to the concrete.

Deimos and Joel continue to fight over the armor restraint in a war of attrition until the former cocks his right arm back and send a devastating blow to the latter's helmet which made the two SPARTANs break contact, and he follows up with a hard hitting high kick that slammed into Joel's chest causing him to stagger back. Joel attempted to strike back afterwards by lunging towards the rogue with the restraint in hand but his target then suddenly vanished into thin air, only for seconds later to launch a quick burst of fiery aura into the loyal SPARTAN's back scorching the bodysuit and armor, and knock him down to the ground with brute force. Joel tried to get back up but SPARTAN Deimos firmly planted his left foot on his back and pressed him down back onto the floor, applying extreme pressure on the soldier's back to where it would break a normal human's spine.

He cried out in pain as he felt his spine crack and bend painstakingly as Deimos applied more weight, then the rogue SPARTAN finally spoke after a long period of silence " **What righteous pretense makes you believe your actions are justified?** "

Joel grimaced and cried out until he felt the foot on his back ease up a bit so he could speak, he answered "You're a traitor Deimos, you don't even- ergh- deserve to call yourself a SPARTAN."

" **Is that all you have to say? That I don't deserve to be a SPARTAN? Such a cliché coming from you. And how is it did I become the traitor when I was simply following orders?** "

The rogue reassured his weight on Joel's back, causing him to cry out even more in agony, " **Anything more you have to add?** " he asks.

Joel continued to be under constant pain as he tried to utter a word but he couldn't, given he was beginning to lack the air to speak, the rogue grinned under his helmet as he drew his M6C and took aim at the back of his victim's head " **I thought so . . .** "

He begins to squeeze his finger around the trigger but out of nowhere a burst of gunfire erupted and struck him across his shields, he braced himself briefly before he looked to see where the rounds came from and found Farley armed with his SAW reloading in the process.

Deimos growls and calls out " **Neo!** " and in a mere instant Neopolitan appears from her long absence right behind the weapons specialist and delivers a hard hitting high kick to the SPARTAN's back.

Farley stumbled forward before he swiftly turns on his heels to target his attacker but found no one, in an instant Neo rematerializes to his left and launches another kick into his side before she swipes his leg from underneath him. However he was able to maintain his footing for a moment and turn to open fire on her but a brief spray of bullets found no target, instead Neo teleports one last time and appears behind him before she draws her sword from her umbrella and ran the blade through his abdomen without a second thought.

Joel watched as Farley stood there idly, his body twitched lightly before he bowed his head to see the thin blade protruding out of his body, and Deimos redirects his pistol onto the stunned SPARTAN and fires a round that tore through his neck. Farley fell over without a sound and laid motionless on the cold concrete floor.

The sociopathic rogue then glanced down at Joel " **ONI made a grave mistake sending you to take me. It was because of them that half of your team is now dead.** "

But Joel didn't listen, his HUD displayed the life signs of his entire team and Farley was still clinging onto life with whatever last strand of energy he had, instead he began to push up against Deimos's weight and soon enough he manages to throw the rogue off of his back before swinging around with a balled up fist that slammed into his target's helmet with enough force to send him staggering.

"YOU BASTARD!" Joel roared as he throws a swift right hook that connected with Deimos's head followed up with a left underthrow that impacted against his abdomen knocking the wind out of the SPARTAN's lungs and fall to a knee.

The fireteam leader readies the armor restraint and attempts to plant it on Deimos's shoulder but the rogue quickly recovered thanks to his new strength and seized both of Joel's arms, he gave a short laugh of pleasure " **Hah! I knew you weren't that weak! Come then SPARTAN, complete your mission and become a hero that your friends need!** "

Deimos breaks off and throws a heavy right hook against Joel's helmet, who then retaliated with a swift spin kick that was unfortunately blocked by his opponent's armored gauntlet, and swings a uppercut that forced Joel to skip back avoiding the hit. Joel roared defiantly as he charges back in, ramming Deimos through another shelf, before cocking his head back and launch a furious head slam against his opponent's head and ready the armor restraint one last time intending to plant it on his chest but Deimos quickly came back and grabbed hold of Joel's hands forcing the two to go into another shoving match.

"Argh! I'll see you rot for what you did to Hark and Farley!" Joel growled as he tried to gain the advantage with every ounce of strength he had.

But Deimos responded somewhat calmly " **That's good. I look forward to the day where my past will catch up to me and I'll finally be able to pay for my sins. There's just one problem.** "

"What's- ergh- that!?"

Deimos began to push Joel back " **There's only one person I prefer to die by now** " Joel was now forcing to kneel under the rogue's weight " **And it's certainly not you . . .** "

The leader was confused "What!?" but he was given no time to think about it when Deimos coiled his head back and slam it against Joel's with enough force to send the fireteam leader staggering back and allow him to seize the restraint.

Joel had no time to respond once Deimos closed the gap one last time and firmly plant the restraint against his chest, the restraint activated and short-circuited his MJOLNIR armor encasing him frozen in a magnetic stasis field. Deimos then proceeded to kick the frozen SPARTAN onto the floor and take a breath of exhaustion. But the fight still raged on with Sandra now actually holding her own against Emerald Sustrai in a knife fight, from Joel's angle on the floor he could see the two still dueling it out but this was now well out of their hands with now well over half of their team down and one is slowly fading away.

He calls out to Sandra with a new order "Raptor-2 get out of here!"

The female SPARTAN manages to kick Sustrai away before glancing towards Joel, finding him frozen and incapacitated, "What!?" she asks with confusion.

"Get Raptor-3 and get the hell out of here!"

Sandra then became well aware of the situation they were in and asked "What about you!?"

"Forget about me! Get Farley out of here and remember the Major's orders!"

She hesitated, not willing to leave a team member behind but she had no choice, and she cursed herself before drawing a smoke canister and tossed it into the air creating a cloud of grey smoke that covered her movements as she recovers the severely wounded SPARTAN and make a full retreat out of the warehouse.

The smoke cleared shortly afterwards with Deimos proceeding to follow the retreating recovery team but Cinder stops him "Let them go."

" **What?** " he asks sharply.

"We've already made a display of power to keep you here. I'm sure they learned their lesson."

" **Ma'am they are weak, I can easily kill them right now!** "

"Don't bother, it'll be a further waste of your power. Besides you won the day and they are nearly on the verge of their ultimate demise, we'll let nature run its course."

Deimos growled distastefully but he ceases shortly and acknowledged her command " **As you wish**."

Fall, Taurus, Sustrai, Black, Neo, and Deimos gathered around their new prisoner with Mercury asking "What do we do with him?"

Adam suggested "I think we should kill him."

Deimos had the same thought in mind " **I agree, he serves no purpose to us.** "

But Cinder's mind was at work as usual until she asked "Is there a way we could use his armor?"

The SPARTAN shook his head " **No chance, the MJOLNIR power armor is a highly reactive piece of equipment. SPARTANs are given special augmentations and a neural interface to properly operate a suit, your men would simply kill themselves moments after they put it on. But their weapons are at your disposal if you wish.** "

She sighs "How unfortunate, is there a way we could perhaps persuade our new friend to help us?"

He scoffs " **I doubt it.** "

Adam insisted "Then let's kill him now, there's no point for him to live."

But Cinder remained calm "No, I believe we may have other uses for him in the future. For now let's keep him in an isolated room and put him under constant guard."

Adam seemed to have a disagreement with Cinder but he made no further arguments, he gave the order to some of his men to transport the SPARTAN to a cell, Fall then motioned everyone to leave while she spoke with Deimos and Neo.

" **You have another assignment for us?** " the SPARTAN asked curiously.

"I have a new target for you, however it will take some time to plan given its nature. But tonight you truly proven your loyalty to me and as a reward, I may have more opportunities for you in the future."

" **I look forward to it.** "

[9:37 PM, Industrial District]

Roughly half a kilometer away from the warehouse inside a dimly lit alleyway, SPARTAN Sandra was keeping a close watch on the entrance to their small makeshift hideout while the weak Farley tried to rest after losing a large amount of blood from the wounds inflicted to him. She was lucky to have scavenged some medical supplies from their ONI M12 FAV Warthog before having to abandon it due to the short pursuit the White Fang gave as the SPARTANs retreated, though she cursed herself for leaving the vehicle behind due to her inability to single-handedly fend off the soldiers. She held onto her M395B DMR tight in her hands as she thought about how she left Joel behind as well, he was most likely dead at this point and she couldn't forgive herself for leaving him like that. She kept telling herself that there was nothing she could've done, that everything was out of her hands and now the only thing she can do was to keep Farley alive until he receives professional medical attention. She started to hear Farley wheeze behind her, on her HUD his vitals were weak, and she turned back to see the SPARTAN sitting on the ground against a brick wall trying to breath but the gunshot wound in his neck proved to be agonizing for him.

She steps over and kneels down beside him, securing the rifle on her back, and held out her hand to which he firmly grasps with his own, she could tell what he was thinking behind his black helmet ' _Don't you dare let me go out like this, I'm not done just yet_ ' and she spoke softly "Hang on Farley, if Obadiah can't risk sending help then we'll have to find some ourselves."

Farley turned his head towards her and tilted it sideways, visibly expressing his confusion to what she meant, and she stated "The Major mentioned Beacon Academy in his last transmission, where the huntresses that encountered Deimos goes to. I think if things went south for us then he wanted us to go there, he prioritized our lives over the secrecy of the mission because he knew that the people at Beacon must be already aware of us. Plus they may have the help you need to get well."

Farley knew what was at stake, not only his life but the overall success of the mission and hopefully the lives of hundreds of people that are in danger should Deimos continue to roam free. They needed to compromise themselves just this once to ensure countless lives won't be lost, it was a necessary risk. The wounded SPARTAN reassured his grip on Sandra's hand and gave a weak approving nod to her.

She nodded in acknowledgement "Alright then . . . we're going to Beacon."

 **Please leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.**


	17. Reasoning

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 16**

 **"** **Reasoning"**

[June 9th, 2558]

[Beacon Academy, Headmaster's chambers]

[7:32 AM]

[The next day]

"Are you certain?" Ozpin asks with concern in his voice.

" _I am afraid so_ " BB answered " _The SPARTAN recovery team was decimated. They just weren't prepared to handle someone of that magnitude._ "

"Then our worst fears have been realized" the headmaster sighed "Deimos has become far too troublesome that even your UNSC can't manage him anymore. And speaking of that acronym I wish that your little game of secrecy ends now so that we _both_ can stop this before we lose another life."

Everyone stood around in the chamber, teams RWBY and JNPR, General Ironwood, Goodwitch, the other professors, and a few other chosen by Ozpin to attend this meeting.

Ironwood concurred "I agree, it's high time we drop the charades."

" _Well sir it's a little more complicated than that. First off I must inform you that this isn't a standard UNSC operation, in fact this whole catastrophic ordeal was originally orchestrated by an intelligence agency called the Office of Naval Intelligence, more commonly known as ONI, before Deimos turned on them._ "

"So the UNSC at large is unaware of this event?" Goodwitch wondered.

" _Yes. And despite earlier submitted reports, they're still not willing to talk to you for the time being._ "

"And why is that?" Ozpin asked somewhat frustratingly, but managing to maintain his calm demeanor.

" _If only I knew. I imagine there's word going around through the higher levels of command, it probably already reached the attention of the Director._ "

Ironwood demands "And the secrecy why?"

" _You simply take no for an answer do you general? My only theory is that ONI doesn't wish for the majority of the UEG to know that there's a world where humanity has existed, possibly longer than the humanity we as the UNSC know. If word got out about this there will most certainly be mass chaos, panic in the streets, insurrections thriving on the knowledge and possibly condemning all of human space into another era of war and terror. That is something both ONI and the UNSC cannot allow to happen again no matter the costs._ "

Ruby, who was currently holding the ORACLE scope in her arms, caught a part of what he said and asked "Again? What happened before?"

" _It was a long time ago Ruby . . ._ " he answered " _Before our war with the Covenant, human space was plagued with widespread insurrections that proved to be a problem too large for the UNSC to handle with conventional means. Millions of innocent civilians were targeted in bombings throughout known territories, too many people were lost in those times. Thus the UNSC commissioned the SPARTAN program, the first and second generations of SPARTANs became the surgical tool that could cut out the problem before it became any bigger._ "

Goodwitch's concern was expressed "And now ONI has turned that tool on us. Are they afraid we might rebel against them?"

Ironwood noted "We do possess an overall impressive military presence, taking on the UNSC would be difficult but not impossible."

Ozpin sighs calmly but everyone knew there was disappointment in it "Here we are speaking about war like it's an inevitability, I prefer to find a peaceful solution to this dilemma which is why I wish to speak with your commanding officers at the earliest convenience."

" _I'm afraid it's just not that simple in my case. See I don't answer to SPARTAN Deimos' commanding officer, but rather I go to the very assistant of the Director._ "

"And let me assume . . ."

" _She's not willing to talk either._ "

"So in summary, no one off this world is willing to speak with us just so the rest of human space is unaware to what's happening here."

" _I'm afraid so . . ._ "

The headmaster fell silent, closing his eyes and hoping to clear his mind from all of this nonsense, and states "Well, then I propose we counter this problem from a different angle. Do you have the detail accounts of the attempted recovery of last night?"

" _Only vague portions from what I've been told. Two SPARTANs are confirmed MIA, including one KIA, but the other half of the team is still active as evidenced by their suits' transponders units still transmitting._ "

"Do you have their location."

" _No. I was only told of what happened, not what is happening._ "

"Very well, and it stands to reason that these two survivors don't want to be found until help arrives, which it won't."

"Alright, so now we have three of these monsters loose on the streets" the general growled before offering a solution "I suggest we do a thorough sweep of the entire city, we search every building and alley until we find them. And once we do we'll bring them in for questioning."

"You mean interrogation" Glynda retorts "And you'll more than likely aggravate them into attacking more of your men."

"I don't hear you coming up with a suggestion" the Atlesian snorts.

"That's because I don't have the mind of a-"

"Please that's enough" Ozpin spoke firmly before bowing his head "It's quite hard enough with three SPARTANs unaccounted for so I prefer that you two don't start behaving like bitter rivals right now."

The adults fell silent afterwards, both Ironwood and Goodwitch ceased their bickering and stood down feeling they didn't help the situation in any way, but soon enough Arc thought of something "Let us find them."

The headmaster, along with the general and huntress, looked up at the leader of JNPR and asked "Come again?"

Jaune continued "If you let us find the two missing SPARTANs, we can convince them that both of us want the same thing. Whether they like it or not, and like you said, they won't be able to stand against Deimos without getting help, we _are_ the help."

Ozpin seemed to like that idea with a half sided grin "Jaune Arc, I believe you just came up with our best option. We'll simply prove we're not the enemy and form an alliance with the surviving SPARTANs. Not only would it solve our Deimos dilemma but it may also open a line of communication between us and the Office of Naval Intelligence. How did you come up with this."

"I took inspiration from what Ren said last night, we form a joint recovery team with the UNSC and capture Deimos together."

Ren glanced at Jaune for the briefest moment "It was only a thought . . ."

"A well planned out thought it was" the headmaster complimented.

"Thank you Sir."

Ironwood began "So the plan is we send out RWBY and JNPR to hunt down and befriend the two SPARTANs? Does anyone else see a problem with that? They could just turn on them and we'll have a tragedy on our hands."

"There's been enough tragedy already General" Ozpin responded "And whether you like it or not, this is our best option yet. I vote we move along with sending RWBY and JNPR to find these SPARTANs and attempt a peaceful truce."

Goodwitch voted "Agreed."

The other professors nodded their heads in approval but the general was still having a hard time to call in his vote, eventually he sighs stating "Very well . . . We've exhausted every other option so what choice do we have . . ."

"Good" the headmaster said "Jaune Arc and Ruby Rose, do everything you can to find our missing 'friends' and see if you could persuade them to help us. This may be our only hope to stopping Deimos."

The two team leaders nodded their heads in acknowledgment before Ozpin dismisses them prompting them to leave the chamber and make their way down to the ground floor.

[1:17 PM, Industrial District]

Joel coughed up a spat of blood onto the concrete floor before looking up and stated "I'm not talking you bitch" before he receives another hard smack across the face.

"Mind the language SPARTAN" Cinder spoke in her usual calm tone "There are minors in the room that shouldn't hear horrible things like that."

Joel grimaced from the stinging sensation in his left cheek, he had been subjected to inquisitive torture for the past several hours ever since he was captured by the enemy. His body was still immobilized by the armor restraint planted on his chest but now his body was also firmly secured on a sturdy chair wrapped with industrial chains, he thought about how cliché the chains were but it worked nonetheless. He watched as Cinder Fall stood in front of him with a now displeased expression on her face, he could hear the metallic heavy footsteps of another SPARTAN pacing back and forth behind him waiting for the word to start another round of vicious beatings. The only thing that's keeping him going is the hope that Sandra and Farley are still out there planning for a way to rescue him.

"I will ask you again" Cinder stated patiently "Where do we find your friends?"

"How the hell- ngh- should I know? It's ONI protocol to go dark should the mission become compromised."

Cinder sighed in subtle frustration "ONI, that's the one thing I keep hearing over and over. Deimos what do you know about it?"

" **The Office of Naval Intelligence is a branch of the UNSC Navy commissioned to gather intel on enemy positions, troop movement, and uses propaganda to gain morale favor. They answer to no one but to the current director, Serin Osman.** **If something was to be kept a secret, ONI is the best in that field.** "

"So it takes the best to keep things silent, things that could prove to be their own undoing . . . I have another question in mind . . ." she spoke to herself before she kneels down in front of Joel and ask in a soothing voice "Why is ONI here? What could they possibly want from a planet like this?"

Joel was done talking, even if he knew the answer to that question he wouldn't tell her, Cinder saw this and gave another sigh of disappointment "Very well, Deimos?"

She backs away just as the sociopathic SPARTAN comes up from behind Joel clenched his left hand over the captive's shoulder and place his right hand over his right pec. Joel knew this was different from the punches and smacks he received before, he wasn't sure what was going to happen next and it scared him, that moment he felt a warm sensation in his chest and when he looked down he saw where Deimos' palm made contact with his armor began to glow with an orange hue. The warmth began to intensify and his body began to sweat despite the bodysuit's regulated temperature inside, his breathing began to become short and unstable as he tried to get cool air into his lungs. The hue began to glow brighter and Joel couldn't breathe at this point, his face contorted as he tried to fight the pain that swelled up inside his chest but he was losing the fight. He tries his hardest to move his body but the armor restrain effortlessly held him in place with no signs of budging, he glances down to see the titanium alloy plating was beginning to soften by the searing heat that seemed to have no effect on Deimos whatsoever.

" **Tell her what she wants to know, and I'll stop** " the SPARTAN suggested to his captive.

But despite the intense pain his body was going through he continues to remember the rigorous mental and physical training regimen he went through to become an ODST, and later on the SPARTAN he is today, and continues to hold fast to what he was taught. However this became a mistake he knew was coming as the heat intensifies to the point where he begins to cry out in agony, his armored shell was beginning to melt, and the pain was simply unbearable even for him.

Cinder finally called him off "That's enough Deimos, I prefer to have him still breathing."

The sociopathic arsonist glances up to his superior and relents, taking his hand away and allowing Joel to breath has his temperature slowly stabilized, and backs away for Fall to resume her questions "Are you going to cooperate with us now?"

Joel looked her straight in the eye and spoke with an unbroken resolve, he was still short of breath "I'll cooperate . . . when I see you in hell."

He was immediately greeted with a disdainful glare from her amber eyes "I see, well if you could manage through what Deimos put you through, then I can assure you I will make you suffer until you tell your secrets to me when I start to have my little fun."

"Go ahead, that freak wasn't entertaining anyways."

Deimos growled " **This is becoming pointless, I recommend we simply kill him and move on with other matters.** "

She makes a retort "If he becomes of no use to us then I promise you will be the one to end him, but silent or not he still serves us one purpose. Sooner or later the rest of his team will come running to save their precious team leader."

" **They may have reinforcements when they do** " the SPARTAN warned her.

"And we will be ready just like before, but you are correct about moving onto other matters, come."

Cinder begins to head for the single metal door that led into the isolated room they were in, Deimos followed her out without a word, leaving Joel under the close watch of three soldiers armed with automatic rifles. The two acquaintances traveled through the dark hallways with Fall leading the SPARTAN, nothing could be heard than the sound of high heels and metallic boots, until they finally reached the vast storage bay of the warehouse. Business was usual for the White Fang, relocating materials and equipment, coordinating local activities, and recruiting more men and women to their revolutionary cause, they were fortunate to have an ally like Deimos on their side. The two continued venturing through the bay area until they reached the other side and entered another hallway that led them to the White Fang's local command center.

Adam Taurus was already standing there with his second-in-command, a lieutenant who was a roughly just as tall as the seven foot SPARTAN with the only distinguishing features being his unique Grimm mask that covered his face entirely and a chainsaw latched to his back.

"So did you get anything from the prisoner?" Adam asked.

Cinder stepped off to the side while Deimos stopped and reported " **Nothing that will help us.** "

"Well that's a shame then, so we're ready to start this thing?"

Fall nodded and began by pointing out a forested area roughly forty miles south of the city "Over the past weeks the White Fang's operations south of here have been at risk of exposure by an Atlesian warship patrolling the area."

" **What's the White Fang's interest in the area?** " the SPARTAN queried.

Adam answered "A series of derelict mineshafts used to mine dust back during the Great War. Recently it's been proving difficult to get dust through stealing and the black markets with Ironwood's troops marching through every street, so we've had to find our own. And now the Atlesians are floating a little too close to our primary source."

" **So now you want this airship gone.** "

Taurus nodded as he held out a small hologram projector and displayed the warship "That's right. But in the recent past we've had little luck trying to take on these things, but with you with us perhaps you have a better way of bringing it down."

Deimos studied the warship, the angular structuring, the fin-like stablizers that kept the vessel upright, several pods mounted on the ventral port and starboard sides containing dust-powered repulsor lifts that propelled the ship through the air, a small hangar bay located in the aft between two of the large engine blocks that inhabited the rear, and the centralized cabin locate on the dorsal side which obviously gave itself away as the command bridge.

He had to ask " **What was the previous strategy?** "

"Concentrated attacks on the engine blocks with surface-to-air missiles and RPGs, the only result we get is significant damage to the outer hull while losing a lot of our own. It started to become a better idea just to avoid them" Adam explained.

That led the SPARTAN to another question " **Weapons?** "

"Dust-powered energy pulse cannons, a fully charged shot can bring down a full grown nevermore in a single hit. And a small series of flak defenses to keep the dirt off their shiny polish."

" **Do we have a design plan of the interior?** "

"No, like I said we can barely scratch it let alone get inside."

Deimos studied the ship for a few more seconds before finally coming up with something " **I think I know of a way to bring down that ship with minimal costs.** "

"How minimal?"

" **I only need a squad of your men and a small high yield explosive device.** "

The White Fang leader than became curious "Alright, so what's the plan?"

The plan was simple, if not daring, " **If we could procure an Atlesian transport as well as military uniforms, we could stage a prisoner transfer with me as the prisoner and your men as soldiers. If we could get aboard and plant the device on the ship's primary reactor it should be enough to bring the ship down for good.** "

"Simple enough . . . it will work?"

" **Yes, it has to otherwise we risk losing the mines.** "

"Fair enough. I can get a dropship and some uniforms, but we don't have anything with enough power to blast that ship out of the sky."

" **Leave that to me.** "

Cinder clasped her hands together and smiled "So, everything is planned then. Deimos I don't need to tell you how important this is, if we lose the mines then all of our hard work would be for nothing."

The SPARTAN gives a reassuring nod " **I will not fail you.** "

"Good . . . with that now set aside I believe it is time for more training."

[1:42 PM, Campus grounds]

Teams RWBY and JNPR were gathered outside the academy building in one of the small nearby gardens that flourished with a beautiful assortment of flowers and trees. The group was sitting around the trunk of a particularly large tree discussing the plan of finding the other two SPARTANs from the now ravaged recovery team.

"So that's it, we're going to find them and play nice?" Weiss asked feeling something was terribly wrong with the plan.

"Do you have a better plan?" Blake retorts inquisitively.

"As a matter of fact I do, let's not find the other freaks and gang up on Deimos by ourselves. It'll save us the trouble of looking for them and trying to fight them if they don't see reason."

Ruby argued with her partner "Weiss we need to find these guys, if we could work together we can beat Deimos and no one else will have to get hurt,"

"And if they don't want to help us?" Schnee asks with the 'if'.

"Then we can't say we didn't try."

Ren was sitting atop a sturdy branch just a few feet above their heads relaxing when he looks down at them and wonders "So how are we going to find them, I doubt they're the kind of people that likes to stick out."

That was the new problem in their plan, how could they ever hope to find a pair of black ops fourth generation SPARTANs hiding in a kingdom. From the darkest of alleys to the furthest of forests from the city walls, these two soldiers could be anywhere for all they knew. The hunters and huntresses began to ponder about the methods of finding them, ideas were made and casted aside after finding the uselessness and futility of such thoughts, but in the end no one really had a solid plan to find their targets.

Their moment of planning came to an abrupt end when they noticed two squads of Atlesian troops rushing off pass them with haste on their way towards the academy air docks, the students glanced at one another wondering what could possibly be going on if soldiers are moving out.

"Think it's another attack?" Jaune wonders.

"Only one way to find out, c'mon guys!" Ruby exclaimed as she got up and ran after the soldiers.

The others quickly followed suit and chased after Rose to see what was truly happening.

[2:03 PM, Air docks]

"Are they still in there?" Ironwood asks.

A lieutenant standing next to him answered "Yes Sir, there's been no attempts of contact just yet. I have two teams ready to move in and apprehend."

Ozpin however belayed that order "No . . . if they came for a fight then they would've started it. No reason to provoke them with armed men."

Professor Ozpin and General Ironwood were both staring at a docked light civilian cargo freighter that was reported stolen only roughly forty minutes ago, Atlesian soldiers isolated the area from the public just recently as they surround the docked ship combat ready. Troopers kept their sights trained on the vast open bow hatch that was used to load and offload cargo, seeing nothing but pitch blackness inside.

The headmaster then began to hear a scuffle going on from behind and when he turned he saw RWBY and JNPR trying to get into the zone but are currently being held off by several soldiers, an idea came to mind and he calls out to the soldiers "It's alright men, those students are with us, please let them pass."

The troopers hesitated for a moment until they followed his order and let them through with no further resistance, the children came up to the professor and general and Ruby asks "What's going on?"

"Ah Ruby" Ozpin greeted her "It would seem that we have our work cut out for us."

Weiss became curious "Wait what do you mean?"

"I mean the SPARTANs are here. Inside that ship."

The group turned and looked into pitch dark interior, seeing half loaded crates stored inside, Ruby glanced back up at the professor "Why haven't they come out?"

"That's a mystery for you to uncover Miss Rose. They haven't fired upon us so it's probable that they are not here for hostile intentions. Perhaps it's time we meet our new guests."

Without warning Ozpin begins to walk forward towards the ship, Ruby follows suit without hesitation, and Ironwood reluctantly brings up the rear with two soldiers at his side. The group traversed into the cargo freighter, Ozpin was calm as usual while Rose was somewhat cautious, Ironwood maintained a collected posture while his guards expertly scanned each dark corner for enemy contact, ensuring that nothing would get the drop on them. The ship's cargo hold proved to be void of any life until they came to a bulkhead hatch that led into the crew deck of the ship, at that moment they started to hear voices, or more specifically a woman's voice, coming from the other side of the door.

Ironwood signaled with his hand for the soldiers to move up and stack up against the walls on either side of the door, one grabbed the door handle while the other readied his rifle and gives a nod for the other to open. The hatch was unlatched and swung open just as the two aimed their dust rifles into the corridor only to find their targets feet from them on the floor, one was propped up against the side of the wall with bandaged wounds but appeared to be on the verge of unconsciousness while the other was kneeled down next to the former. Both of the figures wore eerily similar jet black armor much like Deimos' and were obviously heavily armed with lethal weaponry.

Ozpin and Rose stepped into the doorway with Ironwood standing behind them, the kneeling figure looks up to them through its sky blue visor faceplate and spoke with a feminine tone "It's about time you got in here . . ."

[7:32 PM, Infirmary]

Sandra sat silently on a sturdy metal chair next to Farley who laid motionless on a bed with medical equipment hooked up to his body, it took some effort for it to be properly due to the titanium nanocomposite suit underneath the armor plating. She couldn't believe how generous Ozpin was when he saw the severely injured her friend was, he offered her and a Farley a chance to recover from their previous battle on one condition but he hasn't told her what that condition was. He insisted that they rest first before they begin to talk. Of course trust was not without its limits when it came to this sort of situation, their weapons was taken from them, they were given a infirmary bay that patients and staff vacated, and they were placed under heavy guard by the general. The female SPARTAN laid back in her chair and closed her eyes and allowed the subtle beeping of the interior of her helmet keep her company, hoping to catch some rest from the hellish night they went through, though her moment of silence wasn't a long one when she heard the door open and close before what sounded like a pair of heeled shoes clicking against the ceramic flooring began to approach them.

She opens her eyes and saw a woman with blonde hair, green eyes and glasses, sleeved shirt and black skirt with matching boots, she didn't know who this was but she didn't inquire when the woman spoke "I'm Professor Goodwitch of Beacon Academy, I also serve as Headmaster Ozpin's assistant. He sent me to see how you and your friend were doing and was wondering if you had any requests."

Sandra asked "What sort of requests?"

"Food, drinks, those sort of requests."

"I'm not hungry, but thank you anyways. And he's doing fine, he just needs some time to heal."

Goodwitch nods in acknowledgement "Of course. You seem more concerned for him than you are of yourself."

"It comes with being part of a team, everyone knows that especially you."

"Indeed, there's also someone who has been urging to meet you, she was one of the first few you met on the freighter."

"The girl?"

The very one. She would like to have a word with you if you'll allow it."

The SPARTAN briefly thought about it and shrugs "I don't see any harm in it. She can come in if she wants anyways, this is a public room."

Glynda noticed Sandra was trying to lighten the mood with that final comment but she maintained her disciplined demeanor and continues "Very well, if you need any I will be close by."

"Don't worry about us, we'll be fine."

The professor nods and proceeds to walk away, when she opens the door Sandra spots the young girl with short hair and dressed up like red riding hood that her parents told her about in fairy tell stories, the girl silently walks up to them and stops next to the bed with Farley. Sandra watched as the girl glanced at the wounds in his neck and abdomen, she didn't seem to be fazed by the grotesque nature of said wounds, and finally looks up at her with her silver eyes.

"I'm Ruby Rose . . . nice to meet you" Rose introduced herself, trying to be somewhat cautious while at the same time being friendly.

"Sandra . . . and that's Farley there. Goodwitch said you wanted to talk?"

Ruby nodded "Yeah . . ." before she looks down at Farley again and asks "How did this happen?"

"He suffered a gunshot wound to the neck, fortunately it passed through when it did, and his abdomen was punctured by a blade."

"He'll be alright?"

"Yeah . . . he'll pull through. Though the nurse told me he'll never be able to talk again. His voice box was destroyed beyond repair when the bullet tore through."

Despite the emotionless helmet Sandra wore, Ruby could tell she was deeply saddened by the news, she informs the SPARTAN "Farley wasn't the only one Deimos hurt, he put four of my closest friends in beds."

"We lost two of our own to that man, or whatever the hell he is now."

"I'm sorry . . ."

Sandra sits back and sighs "It's not for your fault . . ."

The two hears the door opening again but this time there were plenty more footsteps walking in, they turned to look and found both RWBY and JNPR walking in, with Pyrrha back in her normal clothing while Yang had her arm in a sling. They were at first reluctant to come near but after seeing Ruby essentially standing next to them was enough to encourage them to walk forward and greet the SPARTANs.

"I suppose we're all here for the same reason then . . ." Sandra remarks.

Some of the students nodded their heads, agreeing with what their former enemy said, with Pyrrha stating "Without each other, we'll never be able to beat him. This is why we need this alliance between us and the UNSC. So that no more people would get hurt."

The super soldier glances up at Nikos "Is this what Ozpin wanted? An alliance?"

Yang answered "We were never the enemy here. Deimos is the true monster."

"I agree with Miss Xiao Long" a voice called out.

Everyone turned to see Professor Ozpin walking with Ironwood alongside him, the two eventually stopped at the foot of Farley's bed with the former stating "In these times of uncertainty humanity has only one thing that has kept its survival a guarantee, unity. We may have come from separate ways of life, those of Remnant and the UNSC, but we are all human nonetheless. There is no reason for us to remain separated when we can join forces and stop those who would dare to cause us harm. You're right about one thing Miss Sandra, every single one of us is here for the same reason. We both want to stop Deimos before he can cause any more harm."

Sandra was surprisingly taken back by the headmaster's words, finding truth in every bit of it, and soon enough Ozpin finally asks for his condition "Will you help us stop our common enemy?"

She didn't know what to say, she kept wondering if this was what Obadiah wanted all along and that if this was the right choice to make, she evaluated the options that she had and for Farley's sake she had to make one "Alright . . . we'll help you."

 **Please leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.**


	18. Fragile alliance

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 17**

 **"** **Fragile alliance"**

[June 10th, 2558]

[Beacon Academy, Headmaster's chambers]

[10:32 AM]

[The next day]

"I'm telling you that strategy isn't going to work General, we already tried that and look where it got me and my team" Sandra stated with a firm voice towards Ironwood.

But the general's tone was just as sharp "My men are much more aware of what Deimos is capable of, SPARTAN Sandra, I don't need any lecture from someone who's been willing to keep us in the dark all this time."

"That has nothing to do with me and the man currently lying in bed with a bullet wound to the neck. So leave us out of whatever you have against ONI."

Ozpin, Goodwitch, and the members of RWBY and JNPR had been subjected to roughly fifteen minutes of arguing between Sandra and Ironwood over the decision of how to take down Deimos once and for all. The general was moving for a direct joint-strike between the SPARTANs and the Atlesian military while the SPARTAN was voting for the aid of RWBY and JNPR instead of more men armed with guns. Neither side was willing to budge from their suggestions and was beginning to become a nuisance for everyone else.

"What I'm trying to make you understand soldier is that we are more than capable of taking on Deimos now, and with your help we can immediately put a stop to him" Ironwood continues.

But Sandra had a retort "After what? After a lone SPARTAN with covert ops training tore through dozens of your own men singlehandedly!? Tell me General, how will they fare against him with whatever the hell this 'aura' is he has now!?"

Ironwood became fed up with the argument and grumbles "You're just as bull-headed as ONI, first refusing to even talk to us and now this."

"I'm not the only one here with a thick head General, maybe you shoul-"

"This has gone quite enough" Ozpin finally intervened on the matter "We're here to stop Deimos once and for all, not to act like stubborn children who thinks they know what's best. We came here to discuss as adults so let us behave as one."

The general frowned at Sandra, who was probably doing the same behind her visor, and the two decided to refrain from saying anything else until they were asked of by Ozpin who began "Now we all understand there has been some . . . communication barriers that still needs to be dealt with, but for now let us go over with what we know. Miss Sandra?"

The SPARTAN crosses her arms and starts "Given the training he received during indoctrination, plus the enhancements of his augmentations and MJOLNIR armor, and the newfound ability we encountered, Deimos has become a significant threat that is capable of going head on against other SPARTANs, especially the second generations. We lost two of our own when we discovered that he was in league with who you call the White Fang, the extremists put up a fair amount of resistance but we prevailed easily. It was when we found our target accompanied by several individuals that stood out from the rest, leaders by my guess. As per orders we engaged Deimos who called upon the aid of his associates who were adept in combat and managed to hold their own even against our close-quarters specialist. Unfortunately we were beginning to become overpowered by the enemy that we were forced to fall back . . . and that's when things went from bad to worse."

"And you are certain they are in a warehouse inside the Industrial District?"

"Affirmative, though they probably realize this and will be making preparations to bug out as soon as possible. Time is crucial here; if they manage to get away then we'll never be able to find them."

Ironwood scoffed "That we agree on."

"General Ironwood" Ozpin said as he shot him a glare "Care to add anything?"

"No. Nothing that we already know."

"Good . . . Miss Sandra are you authorized to access your target's files, read up and learn things about them?"

"Unfortunately no, it's in situations like these when ONI wants to keep a tight leash on things. Our orders were simply to capture or kill if necessary."

"Curious, did it occur to you during your confrontation with Deimos that he is mentally ill?"

"Sir?"

The headmaster turns to Rose "Ruby, would you like to say what's on your mind?"

Ruby hesitated to speak but she took a moment before she spoke "Not too long ago Deimos and I found ourselves in a tight spot where we had to help each other. He got hurt and when he looked into my eyes it looked like he was scarred emotionally, like when you lose a love one long ago."

"How do you know?" the lieutenant wondered.

"I lost my mom a long time ago, I know the feeling" she answered.

Sandra turns back to Ozpin "Okay we may be looking at post traumatic stress disorder, a lot of people get those when they suffered a tragedy. In Deimos's case it could a parent, sibling, significant other, etcetera. This just shows that he's partially demented."

"Yes but it also offers us another avenue of approach other than brute force. If someone could empathize with Deimos, he may show a different side of himself, leaving him exposed to capture."

The SPARTAN reaches into one of her pouches and pulls out a small circular device "Farley and I still have our armor restraints, if we can get just one on him then he'll be completely immobilized."

"It is just the matter of getting close to him, if he sees this then we'll be right back at square one, and someone may get hurt. So perhaps you could lend one of your restraints to young Ruby."

Sandra turns and glares at the young Rose and asks "Why her?"

Ruby stepped up answering "I'm the fastest one around, it's my semblance. I can get close enough to Deimos and get away quick enough if I have to."

But the fourth generation SPARTAN wasn't quite buying it "Look no offense but I'm not so sure about it. But if you prove me wrong then you can have the restraint."

At that moment Rose glances at Ozpin who gave an approving nod, in an instant Ruby activates her semblance and darts straight towards the SPARTAN in a red whirl of rose petals before she snatches the device from Sandra's hands and immediately retreat back to her companions. Sandra was utterly surprised and impressed by the sheer speed the huntress made under such short time, practically less than a second, as she looked at her now empty hand where she could swear the device was still there.

Eventually she catches on and gives Ruby an acknowledging nod "Alright kid, the restraint's yours. Make sure to attach it to his alloy plating where it can short-circuit his suit."

Ruby took note of that and made sure she would remember that as she tucks the restraint away in one of her waist pouches.

Not too long after the elevator door opens and a nurse walks in, she seemed timid and almost nervous when everyone turned to see her, Ozpin greets her and asks "Ah Udina welcome, is there something you need?"

The frail woman nodded and answered "The other one is awake, he's wondering about the campus searching for her" as she points a finger towards Sandra.

The SPARTAN wasn't surprised by the news as she sighed "Up so soon? I swear that man is probably more stubborn than Ironwood."

The general shoots her a disdainful glare and scolded "I'll take that as a compliment."

"It was General . . ." she retorts before she turns to the headmaster "I'll handle this" and heads out of the room with the members of RWBY voluntarily following her out.

[10:58 AM, Campus grounds]

The injured HELLCAT-clad super soldier continued to stumble through the relatively empty areas of the Academy, though his basic motor skills were slowly coming back to him he was getting the hang of being able to walk normally again. Nervous students and staff did well to stay out of his way as he searched for his team member who wasn't there when he woke up in the infirmary.

His helmet's radio crackled to life and Sandra's voice came through, her breath was heavy as if she was running "Raptor-3 report! Where the hell are you!?"

He tried to speak, but due to his ravaged throat all he could utter was a low grizzly hiss that sounded more menacing than afraid. He begins to look around to see if he could see her but she was nowhere to be found.

He could hear the frustration in her voice "Agh fine, look just hold tight and wait for me! And whatever you do, do NOT engage anyone. They're allies."

He groaned in frustration but he had to trust her, he was in no fighting shape anyways , he looked around to see if there was a place he could at least rest until his eyes landed upon an iron bench that sat close by in a small garden with a pond. He begins to stumble his way towards the bench, his walking skills haven't improved, and he only made about eleven feet before he begins to trip and fall onto the ground. The SPARTAN growled furiously at himself, wondering how is it possible that his walking was this severely affected by the injuries he sustained to his torso. But only one thought occurred to him, there was a slight chance that when either Deimos shot him or Neo impaled him could have clipped a vital nerve stem close to the spine that extended down to his legs, though the idea was unlikely. Nonetheless he laid on the grass for a moment before he begins to push himself back on to his feet, but he was still too weak to properly get himself moving due to the vast amount of blood he lost over the past twenty four hours. After failing the first time he balls up his right fist and pounds the dirt beneath him before trying again, pushing himself harder to get up.

"Hey- don't push yourself . . ." a soft Australian accented feminine voice spoke to him.

Farley quickly ceased his efforts and looks up to see a young girl dressed in a black bodysuit underneath a short, long-sleeved jacket and matching short pants, but what really shocked him was the fact that she had two long rabbit-like ears protruding out of her long brown hair. The girl kneels down in front of him and extends her hand to him, his own fist unrolled and at first he hesitated to take hers, he gives a subtle growl which made her withdraw her hand a bit when the growl came out unintentionally aggressive.

"I'm sorry-" the girl apologized "I didn't mean to bother you . . ."

But the SPARTAN shook his head ' _I didn't mean that_ ' he thought to himself before he slowly held out his own gloved hand for assistance.

The girl hesitated but soon enough she reaches out and grabs hold of his hand before helping the half ton super soldier to his feet, she only provided the additional strength he needed to get himself back up. Once he was back on his two feet he points towards the metal bench, the girl quickly caught on and offered to help him along the way, the walk was slow but steady. Eventually the two made it to the bench and the girl helped sit the SPARTAN down onto the bench before she took a moment to catch her breath.

He sits back against the bench and closes his eyes for the moment, finally putting his legs at rest after such a long and agonizing walk, until he hears the girl introduce herself "I'm Velvet . . . Velvet Scarlatina. What's your name?"

Farley gives a short hiss, the girl named Velvet nervously steps back a moment which quickly reminded him that his voice isn't exactly what it used to be, and reaches for his neck to pull out his dogtags that was hidden underneath his chest plate. He holds the tags out for her to read, she takes a step forward and reads what was engraved:

[FARLEY]

[TROY .A]

[SPARTAN-lV-639-85]

[B POS]

"Farley . . . that's a good name" Scarlatina complimented as the soldier tucks his tags away, then she asks "There's bandages around your neck . . . is that why you can't talk?"

He nods confirming her suspicions as she sits down the bench with him, however he couldn't stop staring at the two rabbit ears on top of her head which made him point at them, "What? Never seen a faunus before?"

The SPARTAN shook his head and she gives a small gentle grin before she explained "Well these ears are real if that's what you're wondering. There's other people like out in the world, some have tusks, tails, claws, antlers, the list goes on really. So you're with the UNSC right?"

Farley tilted his head sideways ' _How did you know?_ ' he wondered, feeling perhaps the UNSC was more known on Remnant than what he had been told aboard _High Up_ , she answered "Your armor looks more like Deimos', I've seen him the night he attacked the academy. Fortunately enough he didn't see me. Certainly not the kind of person I'd like to meet."

He places his right hand over his chest ' _What about me?_ ' and she answers "Oh . . . well to be honest I wasn't really planning to talk to you but- I guess after seeing you lying on the ground I would've felt bad if I left you there."

He nods to that accepting the fact that Velvet had gone out of her way to help someone like him, soon enough a different voice called out "Velvet what're you doing?"

Farley didn't bother to look but when Scarlatina turned to see her teammates, Coco, Fox, and Yatsuhashi, standing there with anxious expressions on their faces, Yatsuhashi and Fox couldn't keep their eyes off the giant armored behemoth that sat next to her.

"Oh! Hi guys, I was just talking to Farley here" Velvet replied rather proudly.

Coco stepped forward stating "Velvet this isn't you, you're always shy and afraid of other people. Why are you so calm with him?"

Velvet glanced at the resting SPARTAN and turns back to her leader "I don't know, I guess I felt bad for him."

Yatsuhashi asked the soldier "So, your name is Farley now isn't it?" the SPARTAN could hear the disdain in the hunter's voice, possibly a protective measure to keep Velvet safe.

He growls back at him ' _Yeah so what? I haven't done anything to you yet_ ' and continued to stare at the pond in front of him.

"I don't like his attitude very much" Coco remarked before she gives an order "Velvet c'mon, he's too dangerous to be around."

But Scarlatina defended him "He's only speaking like that because his voice is gone, I thought he was being harsh too but it was just a misunderstanding."

"Still I don't trust him, but Ozpin told us to not pick any fights with him so we won't" Coco then turned her attention towards him "But if you do anything stupid I will make you regret it."

All of these threats was starting to get on Farley's nerves, in response he steadily stands up from the bench and turns to see the three students, each with a distrustful glare in their eyes, and let out a low animalistic snarl that was intentionally unpleasant ' _Try me. I dare you._ '

Both parties continued to stare at one another until Velvet was the one to break it up "C'mon everyone, let's not do this right now. You're just going to make things worse!"

Only moments later did another voice bark out, one that Farley recognized, "Raptor-3 stand down!"

Everyone looked to see team RWBY and SPARTAN Sandra coming onto the scene, the latter was taking command of the situation scolding both sides "That's an order Farley! And you, kids, I suggest you cool it before you do something you're going to regret."

Coco shot her a nasty look before she called to her team "C'mon guys, let's go."

While the others began to leave, Velvet stood up from the bench and reluctantly follows but before she left she looks back at Farley and asks "We'll see each around right?" to which he gives an approving nod afterwards and she leaves.

"Not exactly the friendly kind . . ." Sandra notes as she watched the students leave out of sight and Farley returned to their side.

"That was Coco's team" Ruby explained "They're just afraid like the rest of us."

"So it gives them the right to threaten someone that's trying to help? Sure is a funny way of being afraid."

Farley gives a small growl which prompted the SPARTAN to switch her attention to her brother-in-arms "And what the hell were you thinking Farley? You can't just go wandering around injured like you are!"

The weapons specialist waves the comment off, giving a raspy sigh of exhaustion, before he looks down at the girls that came with his partner. Each and every one of them seemed to be friendlier towards him than those of Coco's team save for Velvet who was so far his favorite out of everyone.

Sandra began introductions "Girls this is SPARTAN Troy Farley, Farley this is Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang. They're the huntresses that fought Deimos before."

He gives the girls an acknowledging nod and pounds his fist against his chest plate, Weiss asked "Uh what was that for?"

"That's just him showing his respect, anyone capable of taking on a SPARTAN and live certainly deserves it" Sandra explained.

Ruby took the compliment "Yeah, Deimos can be a hand full, but we're getting better every time we fight him."

"How many times have you engaged him?" the female super soldier wondered.

Young Rose counted in her head "Five times by now, and every time we find him he always has a new surprise for us."

"I think we're starting to get the feeling, our intel didn't say anything about Deimos having a lot of friends in the White Fang."

"Well now that we do know, we should probably head back to Ozpin and discuss our next move" Blake suggested calmly as usual.

But before anyone made a step a low growling rumble came from someone's stomach, soon enough they turned to Farley who had a hand over his stomach just as it bellows again for nutritional substance, Sandra could only shake her head stating "Doesn't matter if you get shot, stabbed, or both, you're always going to be hungry Farley. That's the one thing that doesn't change about you."

Yang offered to deal with the small dilemma "I'll take Farley over to the hall, you guys go on ahead."

Nobody made any arguments, Ruby acknowledging "Okay have fun", and started making their way back to the tower where Ozpin and the others were waiting for them.

Yang then pats the surprisingly seven and a half foot tall SPARTAN on the shoulder and orders "C'mon big guy, let's get you somethin' to eat" to which Farley responds with a low satisfied growl and follows the blonde huntress out of the garden.

[11:42 AM, Industrial District]

Cinder was walking down the dimly lit hallway towards Deimos' room that was sealed away behind the heavy metal door guarded by two soldiers. Her pace was steady and calm, though the news she currently was carrying was somewhat concerning and now even she regretted the decision she made the other night. The click of her high heeled shoes resonated off the concrete walls as she came ever closer to the door at the end of the narrow hall, but what she began to notice was how cold the air felt and the colder it got the closer she became. Her aura was the only thing keeping herself warm but she could feel the frigidness pick at her skin though she showed no visible signs of freezing. She could see the guards ahead of her now, both standing at attention with their rifles in hand though neither seemed to be affected by the cold either due to their heavy padded clothing and armor or perhaps the freezing sensation was only affecting those with an aura.

The two soldiers spot Fall approaching and one opens the door for her to walk through, she said no word to them and continues into the room where it was completely freezing inside. There she found the fallen SPARTAN sitting atop his ordnance crate with his head bowed, dwelling on his past and pooling his utter hatred for his enemies. In his right hand was a small but highly concentrated ball of contained heat, it would appear Deimos has become more in touch with his aura to the point he was able to manipulate and contain the heat inside a golf ball-sized orb of light. Cinder was surprised, the ability to master the control over heat and send a shivering sensation through those with aura via pure hate so soon for someone like the SPARTAN was intriguing enough.

"Your power is growing . . . that is good" she compliments to her apprentice.

" **I learn and improve. Perhaps one day I'll be as strong as you** " he answered without looking up at her.

"Perhaps . . . but you have certainly become more than a match for your enemies. They will fear you."

" **That is all I could wish for, but you're not here to encourage me. Something has happened?** "

"The other SPARTANs have made it to Beacon, Emerald and Mercury found them just a moment ago with the huntresses."

Deimos growls in anger under his breath " **You should have let me kill them before they got away.** "

Fall could feel the air temperature drop a few degrees, the news she had did not help the SPARTAN's mood but she had a remedy, "In time you will deal with all of them, but for now it is time to start your mission. Adam has gathered the men and resources you need outside."

" **And what of the warehouse? The knowledge the SPARTANs carry represents a significant security breach to us.** "

"You let Adam worry about that, by the time you complete your task you should have the new set of coordinates of our relocated base. Everything will be moved including your equipment."

" **And the prisoner?** "

"He will be brought along with us as well, I still have a few questions to ask him."

" **You still insist he be kept alive in the hopes that you will either turn him in our favor or tell his secrets to us. ONI has trained its SPARTANs to keep their mouths shut no matter what type of torture they go through.** "

"Then maybe it is time I try something new . . . but enough of that now. You must go and do what has been asked of you."

With a quick flick of his hand Deimos dissipates the ball of fire from his hand and heat began to return to the room though at a slow rate, and he stands up before opening the crate to gather what he needs for the mission. He grabs what was once Joel's MA5D assault rifle latching the gun onto his back, his dual M7 SMGs slapping them onto his thighs, and finally his personal M6C magnum slipping it into its holster that was latched to his chest. After collecting the ammo and munitions he needed he starts to make his way out without saying another word to Cinder who follows him out silently.

The two ventures back out into the storage bay, men and women were already well underway hard at work loading equipment and supplies onto trucks and bullhead transports getting ready to ship everything out of the city. Fall points out the way to where Deimos needed to go and he begins walking off in the direction near the front of the warehouse, there he found a bullhead transport bearing the mark of the Atlesian military with six men of the White Fang donning Atlesian combat armor and finally Neo who was under the disguise of an officer sitting inside the troop bay.

One soldier stepped up and reports "We're ready to head out on your word Sir."

" **Good, we leave immediately.** "

The faunus acknowledges the order and signals everyone to climb aboard and take their positions, Deimos climbs on as well and takes his seat next to his partner just as the transport gently lifts itself off the ground via its two VTOL thruster pods and takes off into the distant skies.

[1:37 PM, Dining hall]

"So you're a weapons guy? Huh that's gotta be pretty cool to be I guess" Yang comments as she and SPARTAN Farley ate together in the dining hall.

The two had been there for roughly an hour learning about one another, with some difficult patches due to the soldier's inability to speak so he had to make do with his hands in sign language. Many of the students there kept their distance from the two, not trusting the SPARTAN given recent events, which was completely understandable for them.

"So if you were a weapon, what would you be?" the huntress asked as she took a bite from her bread roll.

Farley stopped eating his soup for a moment and thought about it, given that he was a specialist in that sort of field he had adept knowledge in just about everything, eventually he strikes a pose wielding what Yang assumes is a shotgun in his hands when he 'pumped' the nonexistent shotgun rack loading a shell into the chamber.

"Shotgun huh? Cool I'd be the same thing, though I bet I could do a lot more damage than you."

The SPARTAN shrugs and acknowledges the fact that she could out do him in a fair match of close quarters. The two continue eating afterwards, but Yang continued to stare at his damaged throat and bright blue eyes as she ate. She began to wonder if SPARTANs could feel emotions unlike the monster Deimos is, emotions such as guilt and compassion towards others even if they're not one of their own. Her eyes then turned to the vacant helmet that rested next him, the jet black finish along with the rigid architecture and the durable ruggedness gave the soldiers the appearance of something deprived of said emotions, nothing about it spoke 'hero' or 'hope' but instead it said 'fear' and 'control'. Just how exactly does the UNSC function, do they control human space with an iron fist or is it just simply humanity's way of showing how emotionless they could be. Is this the true face of the UNSC, this black mask meant to instill fear and power, or was the man before her now representing something more passionate towards others.

Farley noticed Yang was in deep thought and snaps his fingers, taking her out of her thoughts, and taps the side of his head ' _What's on your mind?_ ' he wondered.

"Oh it's nothing . . ." she answered, but after looking at his face she knew he wasn't buying it, eventually she sighs and asks "What's the UNSC's deal here? Here I'm looking at a guy who feels regret and pain for leaving half his team behind, but the helmet tells me a different story."

The SPARTAN tilts his head, not understanding the question, so she rephrases herself "Is the UNSC some dictatorship or is it something else?"

Farley had to stop and think about it, even he couldn't think of a good answer for that question. Ever since the beginning of the Human-Covenant War, the UNSC had overridden civilian rule and established itself as humanity's primary government though with some resistance from the Colonial Administrative Authority. He was born only during the mid-times of the twenty seven year long war, making him twenty one as of now, which meant he never experienced what life was like not living under UNSC rule.

He looks into her lilac eyes and the solemn expression he had was enough to tell her he had no real answer even if he could speak ' _If only I knew_.'

At that moment two men, one a faunus with a monkey tail and an open shirt exposing his muscular chest, and the other with light blue hair shaved in a undercut with yellow tinted goggles, wearing a white dress shirt and tie under a red jacket, appeared next to the two with the faunus sitting next to Yang and the human next to Farley.

"Oh hey guys!" Yang greeted the two before she introduces the three men "Farley this is Sun and Neptune, Guys meet Farley."

Neptune puts a fist up and nods "Put 'er there big guy" to which Farley accepts and pounds fist with the hunter.

"So, what're you two up to?" Sun wondered.

Neptune answers in a playful manner "Looks like a date to me."

Farley immediately begins to gag on his food all the while Yang rejects the thought "What!? Ew no! Now look what you did!"

The SPARTAN began to cough since he swallowed his food the wrong way as the blue haired student pats the giant's armored back "Sheesh man take a joke, breath."

The super soldier eventually ceases coughing and took a moment to collect himself, afterwards he proceeds to wrap one arm around Neptune's shoulders and began to mess with his hair with his gloved hand, Yang and Sun laughed as their friend beckoned the SPARTAN to stop "Alright! Alright! Enough man! I deserved it!"

Farley lets the man go and resumes eating silently with an amused expression on his food, Yang then explains what was going on "Farley got hungry so I brought him here. Since then we were getting to know each other."

Sun was tempted to make another dating joke but he knew she would most likely punch him hard for it so he drops it, instead he asks "Okay, so tell us about your new friend."

"Well he's here with his team to capture Deimos" her mood then became solemn "But he lost two of his friends in the fight . . ."

Sun immediately regrets asking the question, he turns to the silent SPARTAN who had stop eating thinking about the comrades he'll never see again "Oh wow, sorry man we didn't know" he apologizes.

But Farley puts up a hand ' _It's alright . . ._ ' and quietly sits there now not wanting to touch his food feeling he may get sick just thinking about it. He feels Neptune place a hand on his shoulder and give a brotherly pat, it surprises the SPARTAN how caring these people are despite only knowing him for several hours and the fact that he was once their sought out enemy.

Neptune eventually withdrew his hand and sat there silently with everyone else until he came up with an idea "Hey I know what'll lighten the mood" he catches the attention of Sun and Yang but Farley wasn't listening "How about a game of Remnant?"

He catches a small grin from Xiao Long and a glance from Farley, which he had hoped for, but as expected Wukong smirked "Tch, nerd . . ."

"Intellectual" Vasilias corrected him.

"Well anyways it's a good idea" Yang comments before she looks over at the weapons specialist "Wanna join? It'll be fun I promise."

Farley glanced into her eyes and saw the pure intention to lift his spirit, soon enough he gives a grin and accepts her offer however a familiar voice called to them "Well that game will have to wait."

Everyone turned to see Sandra along with teams RWBY and JNPR, Farley noticed his partner was armed with her M395 DMR in her right hand and carried his M739 SAW in her left, "Ironwood is ordering his men to converge on the warehouse, he wants us to be the tip of the spear, so gear up and let's go."

As ordered Farley grabs his helmet and fits it around his head before taking the squad automatic weapon and pull the charging handle, loading the first round into the chamber, and with a wave of his hand he urges Yang, Sun, and Neptune to come with him. Yang promptly stands from her spot while the boys gives a nonchalant shrug of their shoulders and decided to come along. The twelve armed individuals then began their walk out of the hall on their way towards the campus air docks where the general and two of his Bullhead transports awaits to ferry them to their target. The only thought that ran through Farley's mind as he walked alongside his old friend and new allies was the thought of bitter revenge ' _It's about damn time._ '

 **Please leave your thoughts and comments. Thank you.**


	19. Converge

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 18**

 **"** **Converge"**

[June 10th, 2558]

[City of Vale, Bullhead transport]

[3:46 PM]

Ruby and Yang watched SPARTAN Farley silently run another check over his M379 Squad Automatic Weapon, purposely ejecting the drum magazine and field strip the weapon into several components before reassembling the weapon, check the chamber and the internal mechanisms for any obstructions, and insert the drum back into the receiver. Blake and Weiss on the other hand stared at Sandra who sat silently with her head bowed and her M395B Designated Marksman Rifle hanging loosely in her hands, the SPARTAN-lV seemed to be in a Zen 'no thought' practice that was favored by certain second generation SPARTANs before a mission. The huntresses were oddly silent as they, and another Bullhead ferrying JNPR, Neptune, and Sun, made their way to the warehouse in the Industrial District ready to tackle Deimos and who ever may be there when they arrive. The silence was broken yet again for the twelfth time by the loud racking sound of Farley pulling the charging handle loading a 7.62mm full metal jacket round into the firing chamber, this caught the attention of Weiss who grew somewhat annoyed by the loud sound but she didn't want to say anything at the moment as she was more focused on trying to understand Sandra much like Blake who paid the weapons specialist no mind whenever he repeats the process.

Farley ejects the magazine and begins to inspect the drum itself, looking for any defects or signs of weathering from the constant usage, before he notices Ruby's silver glare and decides to inquire about her eyes by poking his helmet ' _How'd you get silver eyes?_ '

Rose however asked "What? Is something on my face?" and started to feel around her face for whatever she assumes it to be.

He shook his head with a amused grin and pulled his helmet off before point at his own blue eyes, that's when she caught on "Oh . . . I got it from my mom, she had silver eyes just like me."

His expression changed, from curious to a worried look as he tilted his head, that's when she figured out that he caught on to when she said ' _had_ ' so she explained "We lost her when we were young, Yang and I, they say she died while on a mission but . . . somehow I don't think that's what happened."

The SPARTAN nodded acknowledging the unfortunate news of her mother's untimely demise but he also accepted the fact that it was life, sometimes things happen the way they weren't planned and people should just move on. Though he noticed in Ruby's eyes that she hasn't got passed her mother's death indicating that they were very close before her passing. He slips the helmet back over his head and holds out the drum magazine for her to hold and inspect, she hesitates for a brief second before she accepts the component and begins examining the case and the rounds inside. In her mind nothing seemed to be out of place but when she moves onto the belt fee where the ammunition would travel into the weapon's receiver she couldn't help but examine the metallic round that protruded from the feed. Though it shared the same principles of the high caliber anti-materiel round that was in Deimos' sniper rifle it was obviously much smaller in size, what she finds curious is the UNSC's ability to mass produce these lethal rounds without the use of dust like the Atlesians though it occurred in her mind that Farely's kind may have an alternative for the propellant if not a more superior one. Eventually she hands the drum back to the SPARTAN who then inserts it into the SAW and pulls the bolt back one last time before he stops doing his weapon checks.

Sandra finally raises her head from her silent trans indicating she was done with her practices and looks to see Weiss and Blake staring at her but nobody said a word and the super soldier looks out the open bay door seeing the city below, the other Bullhead transport flying in formation right alongside them and the sun now on its way down into the evening day. The scenery was definitely beautiful to spectate from this high up, it's been a while since she has ever saw a view such as this and it brought her memories of her past, the better memories. When she looks over to the other transport she could see the members of JNPR looking straight back at her, particularly the one with Greek armor and red hair. Sandra was adept in historical knowledge and she found it quite strange when she found out the girl's name was Pyrrha which was an alias a man by the name of Achilles used to avoid fighting in the Trojan War. Whether the naming was an accidental coincidence or a reference to something, she decided not to pry about it seeing the irrelevance in a situation like they were in.

She then turned to the members of RWBY and finally noticed something about Ruby "How old are you Ruby?" she asked.

The question came out of nowhere and it surprised the team leader "Huh? Oh, I'm fifteen."

"Hm . . . that's a little young to be doing something like this don't you think?" the SPARTAN wondered.

"Yeah but I'm still a capable fighter though."

Weiss sided with her partner "There's a reason she was accepted into Beacon."

"There's a reason for everything. Such as why you two are wearing dresses into a combat zone. At least Blake and Yang don't have anything the enemy could grab onto."

"They're called battle skirts!" Schnee firmly rebukes with Ruby supporting her "Yeah!"

Sandra scoffs for a moment then turns her glare to Belladonna who silently stared at her "You're a quiet one Blake . . ."

"I have nothing to say" she answered after her long period of silence.

"So it would seem, you're the only one I've heard little about so far. What's your story?"

"I don't have one."

"Everyone has a story behind them, but I guess you don't trust us just yet I can take a hint."

"So what's your story?" Ruby asks.

The SPARTAN sat back in her seat "Well I can only tell you what isn't classified. I grew up on a fortress world called Reach, born to a pair of wealthy business owners in one of the major cities. I lived average childhood life, went to school, played with friends- that sort of thing. When I was seven years old I met Farley we became good friends. But, as we got older we started to hear about the war with the Covenant and how powerful our enemy was. Farley and I enlisted into the Army when we turned eighteen much to our parents' hate for the military, and I guess we picked the best time to join because only two weeks after we completed our basics did we discover that the Covenant was on our homeworld."

"You fought the Covenant? What were they like?" Yang wondered now intrigued by the story.

"Vicious and unrelenting, a lot of people both civilian and military would run away before they even think about fighting them. Farley and I weren't one of those people, we faced the Covenant over fields and streets, building to building, farm to farm, we meet friends along the way and we lose some. No matter how hard we fought- how many we killed to protect our home, it was a losing fight, the Covenant came with strength and numbers and we couldn't hold them back before they started to glass our home from orbit."

"Glass?"

"A term the UNSC uses when Covenant warships commence orbital bombardments onto a planetary surface, one single battlecruiser could turn a twenty mile radius of lush forest into a barren charred wasteland in a matter of minutes. When they started the glassing process we had no choice but to abandon our home or be certainly killed. We retreated to one of the UNSC's evacuation sites that was still operational and we helped stave off the Covenant until the civilians were away, that's when we finally first saw the SPARTANs in action."

The huntresses listened silently as she went on "The SPARTANs were unstoppable war machines back during the war, Covenant would run out of fear or die in vain when they encountered these soldiers. It's something we thought impossible, our enemies who had been burning planets and killed millions of our kind were running from us because of this nigh unstoppable walking tanks."

Ruby was fascinated by the story so far "So what happened?"

"We held them off, the civilians were able to escape and we were the few military personnel left that survived the fall of Reach. It was also that day when Farley and I wanted to become just like the SPARTANs, it was only three years after the war were we offered a place in the SPARTAN-lV program. So here we are. We didn't even get his name . . . but we do remember his number . . ."

"What was it?" Yang wondered.

"117. It was because of that man that we as a species survived and won the war. The Master Chief and Humanity's Champion as people called him."

"He must be been very strong . . ." Ruby remarked.

Sandra then reassured her "The strongest. He's a living legend and an inspiration to every soldier in the UNSC, risking death innumerable times for his fellow man. Heck, even the Covenant respected the Chief due to his unwillingness to back down from anything."

Weiss remarked "It'd be great if he was with us dealing with Deimos now."

"Well the last time I heard he was currently on deployment elsewhere, where exactly I don't know. But rest assured together we can detain Deimos and bring him in. Hunter and SPARTAN."

Farley gives an excited growl as he brandishes his machine gun to which Ruby giggled a little much to her amusement, Sandra also received a couple of confident nods from Yang and Weiss and she even got a approving grin from Blake.

The airship rocked as a gust of wind picked up but the pilot remained in control and reported "We're approaching the LZ! Prep to disembark!"

The SPARTANs stood up from their seats while the huntresses remained seated, Farley looked out the door to see the industrial buildings all around and the warehouse just below. At that moment the sense of revenge and anxiety overwhelmed the weapons specialist causing him to slap his SAW onto his back and leap out of the transport while it was still about forty feet in the air.

Ruby leaned over the edge calling out "Farley wait!" but he was already in freefall down to the ground.

"No sense in stopping him!" Sandra responded before she too jumped out of the transport.

"They're crazy!" Weiss stated bewilderedly.

But Yang was beginning to stand up as well "Yeah! These guys are fun!" and followed the SPARTANs out all the while yelling "Wooo!"

Blake rolled her eyes and jumped after Yang, Ruby shrugged her arms as well deploying her scythe and took a dive, Weiss sighed before she stood up, drew her rapier, and simply stepped off the edge. The six individuals plummeted towards the ground feet first, with the SPARTANs and Yang taking the lead and everyone else were quickly following them down the forty foot drop. Once reaching the twenty foot mark the two super soldiers activated their suits' emergency thrusters to slow their descent before coming onto the ground hard with a heavy crackling thud as the concrete shattered beneath their weight. The others followed suit and landed safely behind the two armored goliaths, it was at this point where JNPR's dropship was in the process of landing to deploy its passengers as well as Atlesian ground transports and airships entered the area to begin disembarking troops onto the scene. Soon enough the surrounding area was thriving with soldiers and vehicles as they made every attempt to seal off all possible exits for the White Fang and Deimos.

The group made their way to the front entrance of the warehouse without a word until they came to the large hangar doors themselves which were sealed and locked by an internal mechanism.

Sandra attempts to slide the door open but nothing budged, that was when a Atlesian Lieutenant and a squad came to them with the commanding officer suggesting "We can blow the doors open, catch them by surprise."

But the SPARTAN disagreed "We lost the element of surprise the moment we arrived" she then turned her head to her partner "Farley, now's a good time to use that anger you got."

The weapons specialist lets out a disdainful hiss as he gently pushes Yang out of the way and comes in front of where the two doors meet, Sandra takes a moment to step back which prompted the others to do the same. The SPARTAN growled as he popped the bones in his fingers and neck, readying himself, before he cocks his right arm back, fist balled up tightly, and launches his arm with enough force to puncture the lightweight frame of a Warthog. His arm pierced the relatively thick sheet metal doors effortlessly, from there he begins to grab onto the mechanism hidden behind the door before he intentionally forcefully rips it free from its external housing. He then proceeds to pull the locking mechanism out from the door and throw it onto the ground before he pries the door open with his two hands making them slide out of the way and grant them entry. Farley then grabs his SAW and steps into the warehouse first, the students watched him enter silently before they glanced at Sandra who follows him into the building in the same quiet manner.

"He doesn't play around . . ." Neptune remarked.

Both teams followed the two SPARTANs into the warehouse with weapons drawn, expecting an ambush much like every other time they went to visit an unknown place, the silence was eerily disturbing with nothing to be heard other than their own footsteps. They were hoping to find something such as a White Fang operation or something to hint that Deimos is here but what they found was nothing, literally nothing, other than toppled shelves with nothing for them to hold or store. The entire building was devoid of life as they knew it.

Atlesian soldiers began marching into the building with weapons raised but when they found no targets to engage the commanding officer ordered "Alright spread out! Search for anything that was left behind!"

The troopers fanned out as ordered, splitting off into small four-man teams expertly checking their corners and approaches as they ventured into and beyond the empty shelves, Sandra looked around and remarks "Wouldn't be a bad idea to do the same, Farley you and RWBY head further into the warehouse, JNPR and I will check for anything here."

Sun stated "Neptune and I'll go with the big man.

Farley and RWBY acknowledged the order with nods and headed out with the huntresses leading and the boys falling in behind, Sandra and the others began to move among the shelves along with various Atlesian units already searching the vacant building.

As the group separated Sandra couldn't help but sigh in disappointment, Pyrrha noticed this and asked "Is everything alright?"

The SPARTAN looks down at the Greek armored huntress before looking forward again "No. Everything isn't alright . . . there's nothing here and Deimos is gone to god knows where."

Jaune then noticed that the SPARTAN was intentionally moving towards a specific area with a purpose, then he remembered something "Didn't you say you lost two of your own here?"

She didn't respond to that question, instead she walked through the shelves until she came to a certain spot where several shelves have been knocked over and in the middle of the small clearing was an armored corpse lying on the ground. JNPR easily recognized it but the specifics of it was new to them, a new armor variant, they then watched Sandra step over to the body before kneeling down beside it. Then they begin to hear quiet sobbing coming from the SPARTAN.

Arc called to her in a calm quiet manner "Sandra?"

The sobbing immediately ceases then she began to search around the soldier's twisted neck until she found what she was looking for, a set of dogtags tucked away underneath the chest plate, for a moment her eyes stared into the inscription that was engraved into the tags before she started to speak "It's times like these when a SPARTAN has to show no emotion . . . even if they lose one of their own . . ."

But she was beginning to whimper to herself again before she attempted to stop it, despite being a SPARTAN it was still hard for her to see her teammate like this, Pyrrha asked "What was his name?"

"Hark . . . Leroy Hark, he was always the silent one and only spoke when he needed to."

"He was more than just a soldier, wasn't he?"

"You could say that . . . we may have shared a bed or two back in the days . . ."

Nobody said another word, either from the awkward comment she made or out of respect for a fallen squad member, eventually Sandra tucks the tags away under her breastplate and begins to scoop the body into her arms before she proceeds to walk her way out of the maze of shelves with JNPR in tow. The students couldn't help but stare at the limp body in her arms, a death by Deimos was most certainly undeserving even for other SPARTANs.

"So what happened to the other squad member?" Ren wondered as he looked around.

Sandra was hesitant to answer that but she could only hope "I don't know . . . if he's not here then he's still alive. I just hope it isn't too late."

[4:32 PM, bullhead transport, twenty nine miles south of the city]

SPARTAN Deimos laid back against the interior of the passenger cabin, his head was bowed with his arms crossed and his eyes were closed. He could hear the whispers of the two men sitting across from him, easily listening to their conversation which regarded him wondering if the White Fang could really trust someone like the soldier who had killed and destroyed their property on several occasions. While he believed the men had all rights not to trust him, he does however need their undying cooperation if they were ever going to be able to bring down the Atlesian warship they were heading to. He couldn't care about the casualties so long as he wasn't one of them and the mission was completed, whether it be a small team or an entire army it didn't matter to him because everything has their end including himself, and he couldn't wait for his time to come. But he wasn't planning to just simply die in a firefight or be outsmarted by someone he thinks of nothing more than a mere tool or associate, if he was going to die he was going to do it his way.

He then began to think about his true target, the hunters of RWBY and JNPR as well as the remnants of Fireteam Raptor, the combined strength of ten fighters will be a daunting challenge even for him if he were still his normal unaltered self. But with the growing power of his aura he figured it would be a spectacular battle to witness, surely someone will die and so will he. Though one small question continued to pester him to this day, where has he met Ruby before and why do the silver eyes remind him of someone? He couldn't quite place it but ever since he looked into the young girl's eyes he has been wondering about this for a considerable time, thinking back to all of the missions and kills he had made but nothing came to mind. It was strange to think he couldn't remember such a notable feature such as silver eyes and it bothered him a little. There was no one he could think of that possessed such a rare trait but it seemed so familiar to him, he just couldn't figure out why.

He opens his eyes and looks up to see the two soldiers immediately silencing their talk with a hush, the two men stared at the SPARTAN who in return stared back at them. He turns his glare to Neo, her hair turned to full brown as per her disguise, who sat next to him sleeping peacefully as if she hadn't had rest for days, even the most demented had to get their sleep from time to time. He then looks around the cabin, finding the other soldiers who were talking or waiting anxiously for them to arrive to the ship, one of the men was making sure the team had enough explosives to get the job done which was neatly packed in three Atlesian marked duffel bags. He kept running the mission objective through his mind, plant the explosives on the ship's main reactor drive and destroy the ship. But he also made a set of directives for himself, and in order to complete that he needs to get to the command bridge.

The transport rocked as it faced air turbulence but he didn't bother to shift or move, he started to wonder if the White Fang was truly a place he belonged. He had realized that Cinder and Adam were only using him to further their goals, but it didn't matter so long as he has his promised revenge against the huntresses. But after making that thought in his head he began to consider the possibility of his associates soon casting him aside like a tool or rather turning against him, he had been too distracted by his training and his desire for revenge to realize that. He glances down at Neo sleeping and thought about it, eventually he decided that if the time does come and they betray him he will deal with them in the same manner as everyone before them.

That was when the airship rocked again against the turbulence and the voice of the pilot's crackled through the intercom "I have visual of the target."

Deimos promptly stood up from his seat and ventured into the cockpit where he peered through the window canopy and spots the warship in the distance gliding slowly over the vast forests below, the SPARTAN couldn't mistake the distinguishing arrowhead design the vessel took with the two powerful dust turbine engines located in the nacelles that hung off the sides and the massive spines that stretched from said nacelles. He started to wonder if the ship would just let them land and walk off.

Then immediately afterwards the Atlesian warship hailed them on a secure military frequency " _Dropship Lancer this is the Axiom, you're not authorized to be in this sector. State your business or return to base._ "

The pilot responded "Negative _Axiom_ , I have a high priority prisoner aboard and the General wanted this one to be secluded. Requesting permission to dock."

" _Send us your clearance code and standby_."

The pilot did just that, after flipping a few switches and press down on the transmit button, and now the team could only hope that the codes were valid, if it wasn't then they would be turned back or shot down- both of which would end the mission then and there.

The ship came back with a pleased response " _Acknowledged Lancer, we'll take the prisoner off your hands. Proceed to the aft ventral bay._ "

"Thank you _Axiom_ , we're on approach."

After that Deimos heads back into the passenger compartment and gave the order " **We're going in, get everything ready.** "

Some of the soldiers acknowledged with a nod and started to prepare themselves, checking their armored disguises one last time for flaws and ensuring their weapons were in working order, while the sociopath gently kicked his partner's boots with his own which woke her up from her peaceful slumber, she figured it was time to get ready as well.

He then turned towards one of his men, distinguished by the red markings that made him third in command of the operation under Neo, and was presented a pair of heavy duty handcuffs with the soldier simply asking "Sir."

Deimos knew what was to be done and held out his armored gauntlets allowing the trooper to cuff him, while the soldier was securing the restraints on the SPARTAN's wrists he explained "I've made the cuffs weak enough for you to bust out when you need to."

" **Good.** "

As the final preparations were made, the dropship was slowing down into a calm and gentle approach into the _Axiom's_ main hangar bay that thrived with activity as personnel moved about with their day. The dropship extended its landing struts and came to a smooth landing in the middle of the hangar where six fully armed troopers stood ready to receive the surprise prisoner, what they didn't expect was that the prisoner was the very man the Atlesian military had warned about. As the troopbay doors swung open the men were immediately greeted with a wave of surprise and shock to see the armored behemoth known only as Deimos in handcuffs with a squad of soldiers and a female officer having him in tow. As the squad and their prisoner stepped down onto the hangar floor the others took a momentary step back in fear of what they had heard about such a beast, eventually one of them got the courage to step forward and do his job.

The trooper came to a stop in front of the woman and stated "We'll take him to solitary, I'm actually surprised you guys caught him . . . how did you do it?"

The small officer grinned and gave the soldier a flirty wink before she started to walk away further into the hangar with her men following her as the others hesitantly grabbed hold of the prisoner and march him off towards his destined cell.

Everything was going accordingly to the plan.

[5:02 PM, Industrial District]

The members of RWBY, along with SPARTAN Farley, Neptune, and Sun following them from behind, were making their way through the vacated warehouse hoping to find anything that remained of the previous owners. The boys casually looked about for anything while the hulking super soldier remained vigilant looking for the smallest of details along with Weiss, Blake, and Yang, Ruby however was more concerned for her new friend than searching for evidence. The SPARTAN forcibly shoves a shelf over sending it crashing onto the ground so he could walk through and resumes searching, while the others continued searching Ruby went over to see if she could help him.

Farley steps over another shelf and checks for anything but found nothing promising, he gives an exhausted raspy sigh as he begins to turn elsewhere, but he quickly finds Rose standing there looking up at him "Farley?" she asks kindly.

The weapons specialist only glanced at her for a couple of seconds before he went on his own way, she promptly follows him and tries to empathize with him "Sandra said you lost your friends here . . . I can understand why you're angry . . ."

The SPARTAN showed no visible response to acknowledge what she had said, but she continues "I know what it's like to lose someone very close, it hurts and it makes you want to use everything as a punching bag."

Farley finally responded with an irritated growl that seemed to have agreed with what she said _'_ _You have no idea how much'_

"But sometimes we just have to keep going . . . if not for ourselves then for them" Rose pauses for a moment waiting for another response but none came then she told him "When I lost my mom I didn't know what to think, Dad took it pretty hard as well and it stopped him from going on any missions. Sometimes I felt like doing the same but I kept my head up and decided to become just like my mother, a huntress."

Finally Farley had stopped what he was doing and glanced at her, he could see the pain in her eyes but also the strength of not letting it ruin her life given her current status. He thought about himself and saw that he was being consumed by his anger over the loss of Joel and Hark, he could only imagine how Sandra was taking it, and realized that this sort of behavior could prove to be a great risk to him and others around him if he allows it to take over in a combat situation. He had to give her credit for something he, a well-trained SPARTAN, could not do.

She then continues, going onto a more recent event, "My friend, Penny, got seriously hurt by Deimos when he attacked the academy and they rushed her back to Atlas. I don't even know if she'll be alright or if she'll be back . . ."

He didn't know what to say, even if he could, but in the end he gives a short huff of air before he gently pats the young huntress' arm and motioned her to follow. The two started to walk together through the warehouse when Farley reached into the softcase that was latched onto his left thigh and pulled out a small picture to hand her. She takes the photo and notices the two people in it, a young boy and his beautiful mother with her arms wrapped around his shoulders as they stood in front of the camera and smiled.

"Is this you?" she asked when she looked up at the SPARTAN.

He nods before she looked back at the picture, she noticed how happy they were together but noticed something was missing, she then wondered "Where's your dad?"

He shrugged _'_ _I don't know . . . never met him.'_

"And your mom? How is she?"

He solemnly shook his head _'_ _She's not around anymore . . .'_

"Oh . . . I'm sorry . . ."

The solider pats her again on the shoulder assuring her that it was alright, that was when he noticed an entrance into a hallway that branched from the main loading bay. He points out to it, to which she acknowledges with a nod, and the two began making their way until they reached the mouth of the hallway to find out it was dark. Ruby takes a step forward but Farley threw his hand out in front of her, offering himself to take point in case of danger, and started marching down the hall with his helmet lights active and his SAW braced against his shoulder. As the two began their way down the hallway, Ruby noticed how quickly Farley went from being a reckless man taking his anger out on shelves to being calm and alert like a real soldier. She thought that perhaps she and the SPARTAN had more in common than they both realize, both having to go on without a mother and knowing what it's like to feel loss. Perhaps there is more in common and hopefully that would be the foundation of a potential alliance between the people of Remnant and the UNSC.

At the far end of the hallway Farley could make out a heavy metal door standing in his way, there was no sign of hostiles on his motion tracker so he could assume that there were no threats beyond it. But rather than becoming careless again he holds out his left hand in a fist, signaling Rose to halt a few feet behind him, and carefully reaches out for the door handle. His muscles tensed as his hand wrapped around the metal bar and pulled hard, the metal door screeched as if it hadn't been used recently, and reveal the interior of the next room. At first glance the room was purely concrete with no windows and the only source of light being a dim bulb that flickered on and off on the far side of the room. Another glance showed that the room was unoccupied which prompted him to take a careful step into the room however when he set his boot firmly on the floor it pressed down on something mechanical and a distinct _'_ _ping'_ was made.

He swiftly looks down on the floor and finds a rusty pressure plate underneath his armored foot, with a cable leading from it. His eyes quickly followed the cable further into the room until they came to an end on a metallic crate that sat against the far wall with a red light now turning green with a high pitched chime signaling activation. In a matter of mere milliseconds Farley threw his gun aside, turned on his heels towards Ruby, and tackle the huntress to the ground just before a powerful IED detonated in the room and sent out a shockwave that rocked the entire warehouse and caused the hallway to cave in on the two, burying them under piles of concrete and rebar.

The others were quickly alerted to the explosion and hastily rushed towards the origin where they came to find a caved in section of the warehouse, the students, soldiers, and fellow SPARTAN gathered around the debris just before Yang started to look around, noticing someone wasn't here, and asked with alarm in her voice "Ruby!?"

 **Please leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.**


	20. Desperate times

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 19**

 **"** **Desperate times"**

[June 10th, 2558]

[Atlesian Warship, _Axiom_ ]

[5:42 PM]

SPARTAN Deimos, now prisoner walking in shackles, was being escorted by six armed Atlesian soldiers as they made their way towards the brig which was located near the bow just a level below the ship's command bridge. Their footsteps were light compared to his own but during the walk he was utterly silent unlike the escorts, some of which continued to wonder how he was caught despite everything they heard. Putting that aside he takes several glances at the interior walls of the _Axiom_ noticing the cathedral-like appearance with the flying buttresses and arched window viewports that showed the forests and mountains below, it certainly wasn't quite like the dull rigid interior of most UNSC vessels but everyone had their tastes in something. What actually intrigued him was the ship's own size and role, considering this is the only class of vessel ever encountered outside the Kingdom of Atlas, the warship was nearly in length of a Charon-Class Light Frigate at around four hundred and eighty nine meters long from the tip of the bow to the aft engines, and it was considered a capital ship by Atlesian standards. If only they could see what a _real_ capital ship was like in the UNSC Navy.

The soldiers and their prisoner came to a stop at a bulkhead hatch with a keypad off to the right side, one of the men stepped towards it and inputs the code which resulted in the hatch to slide open with a sharp hiss of pressurized air as the hydraulics opened the way. Afterwards the group made their way inside where they found themselves in the ship's brig which resembled more of a large grand cathedral than a typical dull room with barred cells much like prisons operated by the UEG.

"Keep moving!" one of the troopers barked, shoving the seven foot captive into a walk.

The prisoner and his escort walked down the silent halls with only the sounds of their footsteps resonating throughout the brig until they came to a stop at a door that was to be the SPARTAN's cell for his duration of imprisonment. One of the soldiers punched in a set of numbers on the keypad which caused the door to lift itself with a metallic whine and introduced Deimos to his new quarters, which was nothing more than a room the size of a closet and a bench for people to sit on. He willingly steps into the cell, having to bend his legs so that his head would clear the low ceiling, and sat down on the bench as the soldiers seals up the door and stand guard.

Inside, Deimos couldn't help but feel right back at home. He closes his eyes and began to feel as if he was back at the Recusant Prison and Correctional Facility outside the capital city of Roma on Mars roughly twelve years ago. He began to remember all of the qualities the prison had, the rotten smell of unclean cells, the bickering of inmates, the occasional brawl that leaves a man a broken arm, the tasteless food, and the utter silence of solitary confinement, god how he missed that blissful silence. Back then during the early days of his sentence he was a target for some of the more violent members of the low-life community, enduring through the typical gang beatings and other methods of torture, but he immediately gained reputation when a lone man, a thug for a local crime family, came to him during lunch period and began to pester him, pushing around and throwing death threats around with no care in the world. Adam asked for silence but the thug wouldn't let him have it, despite how calm he had asked for it, and when the belligerent proceeded to make the first swing at him, Adam had immediately ducked below the fist, kicked himself away from the table he was sitting at, seize the man by his right arm and kicked the feet from underneath him causing the man to fall face first onto the concrete floor. The man barked to be let go before Adam launches his own fist into the man's face and proceeds to break the thug's arm and finally oblige his request. It was only moments later when prison security arrived and apprehended both Adam and the broken man, neither put up resistance, the former was to be sent to solitary confinement while the latter, the infirmary. Afterwards he gained the name _'_ _The silent man'_ because despite what's happening, what he or anyone else could be doing, all he wants is silence, and he got it for the next six years of his life until his eventual release curtesy of ONI.

Deimos chuckled a little inside, he was right back where he started- inside of a cell, he couldn't stop thinking about the irony of the situation. But he knew this moment wouldn't last long because soon the next phase of the plan will initiate and he will be a free man once again. It was only a matter of time.

[Industrial District, 5:58 PM]

Inside the bombed warehouse, under the tons of concrete and rubble several meters from the blast zone, SPARTAN Farley braced his body over the unconscious Ruby Rose with the debris weighing down on his augmented back. He was able to hold it because mere seconds before the roof collapsed on the two he sent his suit into armor lock and the MJOLNIR suit itself took the blow. He could hear and feel the rubble shift around him, either by natural causes or hopefully the effort of their allies trying to dig them out, but despite the assuredness that his suit will not to fail them for a long period of time he begins to worry for Rose's own health as there was blood coming from her forehead.

 _"_ _Farley respond! What's your status!?"_ Sandra's voice barked through the helmet comms.

The buried SPARTAN only responded with a struggling growl to which his partner sighed with relief _"_ _Thank God . . . what about Ruby?"_

At that moment he hears the young huntress stir from her moment of blackness and give a short cough as she breathed in the dusty air, she then opens her silver eyes to see Farley on his arms and knees over her body holding up the concrete that could easily crush them in seconds.

Farley then switched his helmet's communications to the external speakers seconds before Sandra repeated herself _"_ _Farley, is Ruby alright?"_

Rose responded with another cough "Yeah- coh!- I'm fine . . . Farley's holding up the debris above us but I don't know how long he can hold."

 _"_ _Alright well hang on, we're doing everything we can to get you out. The Atlesians are mobilizing their bullheads over the collapsed portion of the warehouse and will start airlifting the rubble out."_

"Please hurry . . ."

Afterwards Sandra's voice went silent leaving the two alone in the dark in such a tight spot, with the only light source coming from Farley's armor which illuminated the walls and ceiling with a light green hue Ruby decides to look around them but with the SPARTAN's body practically inches from her own it left her very little room to move. Even with little space she dared not move, fearing that even the slightest movement may cause the rubble to crush them, but she felt lucky enough to have Farley with her because had she been alone when the bomb detonated she would've been easily killed.

She showed gratitude towards the SPARTAN "Thanks . . ."

Farley only hissed as he did his best to maintain his posture, the weight of the concrete was excruciating but the armor locking system was holding its own for the time. Rose could tell the SPARTAN wasn't worried despite the dire circumstances, which didn't exactly surprised her but she had to hand it to the soldier for his courage and hope. It must've been true about what Sandra said about the two, if they had fought a war that would decide the fate of humanity against a vastly superior foe then this was practically nothing for the weapons specialist.

That thought alone began to make the huntress wonder about the Great War itself, not her kind's but the one that raged beyond their small world for thirty years. She couldn't quite imagine the power this 'Covenant' possessed if it made itself a clear and dangerous threat to the UNSC, the ability to destroy worlds and kill billions in the process was terrifying enough for her but she didn't show it to the SPARTAN. The thought of armies and fleets clashing on multiple fronts on a galactic scale proved that both sides were immensely powerful in their own rights, the UNSC with their fresh combat experience from the times of insurgency coupled with the raw tenacity of humankind defending their home soil to the very bitter end, and the Covenant with their technological and numerical superiority throwing themselves into enemy fire for some holy belief of a better afterlife. Each side was determined to see to it that they would win the war no matter the cost, even if it meant millions of lives. It was certain that humanity's survival wasn't purchased with a single bullet or battle, but countless heroic sacrifices had been made to slow the Covenant's war machine and bought the UNSC more time whether those sacrifices ended with victory or death. She could see human soldiers fighting fiercely and valiantly without pause, doing everything in their power to stave off what would certainly be total annihilation of their species.

Then came that of the SPARTANs, stories of seemingly unstoppable soldiers that were destined to become humanity's guardian angels and a carrier for the torch that lit their way through the dark times, if only they knew how far Deimos has fallen . . .

[ _Axiom_ corridors, 6:04 PM]

Neo and a pair of troopers from her squad were making their way towards the bow of the ship, with the vessel's communications center in mind, while the other pair headed aft where the _Axiom's_ maintenance and reactor core was located. The corridors themselves were bustling with activity, technicians performing constant work on the ship's mechanical and electrical systems, armed guards walking their patrols in pairs, and officers delivering their reports or attending to their next assigned post whatever it may be.

She constantly heard men passing on the news that Deimos was caught and currently residing in the ship's brig, supposedly an astounding success for the Atlesian military by far. Some of the crewmen even began to ponder about their next steps, some opted for an immediate execution fearing that the SPARTAN is too dangerous to hold prisoner while others opted for a fair trial that will see to it that Deimos will get what is coming to him, neither side could decide. Personally if she was truly an atlesian she would vote for an immediate execution, not only is Deimos beyond dangerous but it would also save them a lot of time and resources to keep the soldier secure and standing by for trials. Of course the SPARTAN was playing his part perfectly, sitting idly as troopers roamed about while she and the others moved into position.

She was beginning to see the bulkhead door that led into the ship's communications center, flanked by two guards, and walked up to the door without interference while the two men that were accompanying her kept marching forward further down the corridor towards their own destination. The guards paid Neo a dutiful salute as the hatch slid open with a hiss of air revealing to her a hive of communications networking and crewmen hard at work maintaining contact with all other Atlesian assets in the kingdom of Vale. She steps in, letting the hatch close behind her, and assumes a position near a console pretending to be part of the crew working tirelessly. She with a press of a button of her wrist device, she notifies the other members of the team that she was in position.

[ _Axiom's_ engine deck]

Two troopers, Vince and Thorne , were on route towards the ship's main reactor core where they plan to set several demolition charges in order to knock out all electrical systems and hopefully bring the ship itself burning down into the forests below. The two walked without any interruption from the loyal soldiers and technicians that inhabited the corridors, that was when Vince's arm-mounted tactical pad chimed and displayed a small blink of green indicating that their female compatriot was in position. The trooper in disguise gave his companion a glimpse of light which was met with a confirming nod, the two proceeded further down the hallways until they took a right turn at a 'T' shaped intersection and could see their objective in sight, a massive reinforced bulkhead hatch meant to withstand a direct hit from some of the military's heaviest artillery flanked by two soldiers standing watch, there were hardly anyone around given the guards' strict orders to keep everyone away except for specific authorized personnel. Fortunately because of this strict order, rarely anyone is seen near there which gives the two infiltrators an opportunity.

They were beginning to approach the hatch, which set the guardsmen on alert when one of them stepped forward and held out his left hand signaling them to stop "You're not authorized to be here" he starts with a stern voice.

But neither of the two said a word and instead continued to approach the guards, the soldier repeated himself "Are you deaf!? I said you're not authorized to be here!"

Vince finally answered, his voice was smooth and relaxed "Calm down there Chief, we're here for the shift change."

The two guards glanced at one another before the first responded "Guard shift isn't scheduled till o'nineteen hundred hours. I suggest you leave now."

Thorne sighed, his voice was rough and aged but still retained a sense of power, "Well . . . we tried" before he immediately lashes out towards the second trooper who was starting to raise his rifle to fire.

Vince swiftly closed the gap between him and the other guardsmen and followed up with a strong leg sweep, knocking the trooper onto his back, and deliver a smashing hammer fist into the soldier's helmet. Almost instantly the man was knocked cold and resisted no further, Vince took a moment to grasp his hand and rub it after it had made contact with the hard metallic casing but surely enough he left quite a dent in the protective gear.

He glances over to see Thorne crush his opponent utilizing brute strength, cunning, and agility where he deals a heavy right hook across the man's lower jaw causing the guard to stagger back for a brief moment before he tries to retaliate with a swift right jab. But Thorne expertly grabbed the soldier's forearm, pulled him in closer, and launches his own right elbow into his adversary's faceplate which knocked the trooper flat on the ground. However the guard wasn't finished yet as he tried to get back up but the White Fang extremist kicks the soldier back onto the ground and quickly performs a curbstomp on the head that knocked his opponent out cold.

Afterwards Vince grabs his opponent's arms and drags him off to the right side where the door control panel was positioned locked via a biometric security measure which was comprised a hand scanner. The infiltrator then takes the glove off of the man's right hand and plants it against the scanner, the two went into a brief waiting period until the scanner blipped green and the post itself chimed positively signaling that the saboteurs were grated into one of the most closely guarded assets within the ship, the primary and auxiliary power generators. As Vince dragged the two soldiers into the generator room, Thorne reaches into one of his magazine pouches and procured two holographic display discs, carefully setting them down on both ends of the corridor in front of the bulkhead, and activates them which resulted in the devices to display a life-size 3D image of an atlesian soldier standing guard, it was a perfect fit. Afterwards the hatch begins to slowly close after a set time and Thorne casually jogs through the entrance before it could've closed on him.

The hatch finally closed and locked itself behind the two, Vince was already tying up the soldiers with a flexible fiber cable on hand while Thorne took hold of the hardcase backpack he carried and sets it on the floor so he could access the contents. In moments he reveals six high-yield demolition charges, only one was powerful enough to punch through four feet of alloyed armor plating commonly used in ship building for the Atlesian Navy, certainly more than enough to bring down a warship of this size. After Vince had finished up handling the unconscious troopers he was handed three of the explosive charges to plant, their target was a massive cylindrical reactive containment chamber, sitting in the middle of the room between a similarly large energy convertor and power regulator hooked up to an array of power cables and monitor stations, that housed the dust particle-fusion reaction that could supply enough power to keep an entire city lit for decades to come.

"Two on the main generator, two on the auxiliaries in the back, two on the control center" Thorne stated as he plants one of his charges at the foot of the reactive chamber.

Vince nodded and planted his on the chamber before he took his two remaining charges to the auxiliary bay that sat behind the primary plant closer to the stern, whereas his companion went to the control room that wasn't too far from where they stood. The generator room was surprisingly vacant of any life besides the two which led them to believe the room was largely automated by an AI or mere computer subroutine, either way it seemed their presence wasn't noticed.

Vince eventually finds his way to the auxiliary backup generators, a pair of significantly smaller but identical cylinders with cables and energy management systems in place, and gets to work placing each charge at the base of each cylinder. After ensuring each charge was in place he makes a quick connection check with the detonator, initially a small LED light on the devices glowed an ominous red but when he pulls out the handheld trigger device and presses down on a small node labeled [TEST] the red light blinked green signaling a successful connection between the two.

Thorne had already found himself inside the control room, the walls were lined with terminals and monitors displaying the output readings and distribution of energy throughout the ship, mainly to the engines and shielding protecting the ship. He plants the first charge on the mainframe terminal, the component that oversees all operations within the generator room, and puts the second against a wall-mounted power router. The charges were set and so he checks the connection on his tacpad, after a few presses and testing, the connection between the bombs and the trigger was successful.

The two then rejoined in front of the primary generator, Thorne ditches the hardcase behind seeing it would only slow him down now, and made sure the unconscious troopers would remain that way so they couldn't call for help when they do.

"Charges on the backup generators are ready to go" Vince informs his partner as he stood ready to leave.

"Same for the ones in the control room, once those blow they won't be able to stop it" Thorne responded.

"Alright, let's get the hell out of here" Vince states as he raises his tacpad and presses down on a button which will notify the team of their success.

Afterwards the two began walking towards the bulkhead hatch, pulling a lever which unlocked the heavy mechanism and caused the door to slide open. No one was to be seen down the corridor or in the intersection which gave them some relief knowing their mission hasn't been compromised, even the holographic projections of the two guards were working flawlessly.

One even acknowledged the infiltrators' presence and gave a strict order with a raised hand "Halt, this is a restricted area."

Vince and Throne didn't respond, instead they begin heading out to perform their next phase of the plan with satisfied grins upon their faces.

[Industrial District, 6:21 PM]

It's been over an hour since the bomb detonated and the building collapsed on top of SPARTAN Farley and Ruby Rose who were still holding onto life as the combined efforts of the Atlesian Military, the hunters and huntresses of Beacon Academy, and SPARTAN Sandra continue to fervently dig out all of the concrete and rebar that buried their friend, hoping they can save them before this incident becomes a tragedy.

On the ground, teams RWBY and JNPR along with the aid of atlesian platoons, worked tirelessly to free their comrades. Sandra struggles to lift a massive chunk of concrete, weighing in at nearly half a ton, using her augmented strength and power from her MJOLNIR armor but, with immediate aid from Yang and two soldiers, she was able to put it aside clearing the way for others to keep digging. From above, military and even civilian bullheads hovered in the air, each with high-torque tow cables extended downwards waiting for men and women on the ground to hook up individual pieces to the cables allowing the aircraft to hoist them away to another location.

Under the pile of rubble Farley continued to hold his position acting as a support beam to keep the debris from crushing him and Ruby, who continued to lie there helplessly until they can be saved. The fourth generation super soldier could feel the rubble shift and move around him but he be damned if he gave in, the armor locking system in his MJOLNIR was still providing most of his strength but even that was already beginning to show signs of wearing down through extended use. But in spite of grave situation they were in, he wasn't about to give in so easily, and in turn Ruby maintained a sense of hope for rescue.

Sandra's voice broke the silence through Farley's suit _"_ _How are you two doing down there?"_

"We're doing fine, but I think Farley can't hold on for much longer" Rose responded.

 _"_ _Understood. Just hang on a little more, we have all hands on deck trying to clear the debris._ "

"Alright . . ."

Silence filled the air once more, over time Ruby noticed how shallow her breath was becoming. She had already accounted for the already dwindling supply of oxygen around them when she woke up, Farley showed no sign of shortness of breath but she figured it was mainly because his suit carried an onboard tank of oxygen to supply to his lungs. Even if the SPARTAN would hold out for possibly several more hours, she would suffocate before rescue arrives if it becomes too late.

She taught herself to control her breaths, taking in only what she needs instead of breathing normally, and with that she hopes to buy herself some more time for help, talking would only shorten that time. But with each passing minute she could feel the air becoming thinner and thinner. Farley soon noticed Ruby was beginning to show some difficulties breathing and knew what to do. Placing her life above his he begins to expend his reserve oxygen, air hissing from several ventilation ports in his armor, and in a matter of moments he watched Rose's breathing regulating.

Ruby took a moment to take a single breath of fresh recycled air and asked "Why did you do that?"

The SPARTAN only gave a relieving sigh and nothing more.

As much as she gratefully accepted her renewed supply of air she still needed to use it sparingly because it'll still be some time before the rescue teams can reach them. But that was until the two heard concrete slabs being shifted aside just several feet above them, they could hear the voices of men barking orders and others struggling to move fragments.

"We're almost there! C'mon!" one particular soldier cried out.

"Alright they should be right under here, let's get this thing out of here!" another barked.

With that note Farley could feel the very slab sitting on his back begin to move as the soldiers attaches a bullhead's tow cables onto the concrete surface. Ruby readied herself for the coming rescue and in a matter of moments a great roar of power charged from the engines of a hovering aircraft which caused the slab to be lifted up and away from them. Rose's eyes were immediately met with floods of sunlight coming from above, Farley deactivates his armor lock and nearly collapses onto the young huntress but several gloved hands reached out and grabs him by his shoulders before he could've fallen. Soon a pair of soldiers leaped down into the two's hole and tended to Ruby who slowly got up on her feet while SPARTAN Sandra and several soldiers hoisted Farley out and sat him down by a wall.

The soldiers helped Ruby out of the hole just in time for Yang and the others of RWBY and JNPR to rush in and greet their beloved friend, of course Xiao Long threw her arms around her younger sister and held her close "Ruby I'm so glad you're safe!"

"It's alright . . ." she replied as she too hugged her sister "Farley saved me just in time."

Ren then states "I guess we were lucky to have him then."

As he said those words some team members glanced over to see the exhausted SPARTAN resting against the wall, he looks as if he was about to keel over at any moment but soon enough he stares back at them and gave a subtle nod, in return he receives several warm smiles from the young hunters and huntresses.

Sandra made one last checkup on her friend before standing up and give her report to the waiting children "His muscles' have been strained a bit, plus some damage to his armor from the debris but . . . it won't be long till he feels better, he just needs some rest."

Pyrrha turns back to Ruby and asked "What did you find back there?"

"I don't know, Farley was in front of me, but when he stepped into the room I heard a click and the next thing I knew he grabbed me and threw me onto the ground before the explosion" Ruby answered, taking a quick glance at the SPARTAN that saved her life.

Blake notes "So he selflessly put your own life above his . . . never thought I'd see that happen. Not with Deimos at least."

"Not to sound cold or anything" Sandra started "But it's something SPARTANs were taught from the beginning of their training, we risk our own lives so that others may live" she then shrugs "But who knows . . . maybe he's starting to like you all."

She only received a raspy chuckle from the weapon specialist behind her.

But Ren remained focused "Did Farley see anything before the explosion?"

Farley brought up his hands and used them to describe what he saw, a mere bomb and the triggering mechanism, nothing else.

"So they knew we were coming, but the question now is; where the hell did they go?" the female SPARTAN wondered.

[ _Axiom,_ 6:29 PM]

Vince and Thorne were coming up on the ship's brig, surprisingly lightly guarded given the sole prisoner they have in their cells. Before coming to the bulkhead hatch they took a spot next to a viewport and begun to look out to see the evening sky and the forests below.

Vince took a moment to shift his right shoulder, currently with a duffel bag slung over, and whispered below his breath "How long do you think the ship has?"

Thorne answered "If they don't bring the backups online . . . I give it five minutes."

"And if they do?"

"As long as the big guy wants it to be."

In a matter of seconds Thorne's tacpad blinked green indicating that the fourth and final team was in position, the two glanced at one another knowing everything they prepared for was about to happen in moments. With that Vince reaches for one of his pouches on his right thigh and discreetly produces the remote detonator in his hand, without a moment of hesitation he flips off the safety and presses down on the trigger.

[Brig]

In seconds Deimos felt the ship rock violently as an explosion took place onboard, in fact he could hear the low roar of the bombs through the walls of his cell, and afterwards he could feel the ship begin to gradually tip forward as the primary dust engines went offline as well as other major systems. He grinned and opened his eyes, knowing it was finally time to act.

He subtly stands to and readies his right hand, a small flick of flame ignited and slowly grew in size and intensity using a trick he taught himself back in the warehouse taking all of the heat away from his surroundings and using it to further enhance his ability. Of course an added effect is that those standing around him will begin to feel a sudden freezing sensation as if they stood in the middle of an ice cold night.

His hand becomes pulsating with the immense heat prompting him to condense the fireball into a smaller yet much more devastating form with enough potential energy stored inside to possibly vaporize an entire ursa or something of similar size. Finally he takes aim with his open hand at the door and with a single thrust he launches the searing projectile into the metal hatch at point blank range resulting in the utter destruction of the door in an explosive display of raw power and flames.

"Dammit!" a soldier cursed as he and another trooper took aim with their dust rifles.

The other quickly attempted to contact his superiors via helmet "Command! Prisoner Deimos has broken free! I repeat; Deimos is free!"

But in an instant a pair of gloved hands reached out from behind and forcibly snaps the man's neck making a loud _'_ _crack'_ that startled the other trooper who then turned to see his colleague lying on the ground with his neck broken and what looked like a shimmering figure standing over him. The standing trooper then raised his rifle and fired off a round that merely slammed into an energy field that caused the mirage to shimmer showing a portion of black titanium clad armor before it finally revealed itself to the escaped prisoner. The trooper fires again but the dust round only made moderate damage against the SPARTAN's shielding and in response Deimos aims the palm of his hand towards his attacker and fires off a ball of intense heat that struck the soldier in the chest plate, the projectile punched through the armor like a plasma lance through titanium alloy and scorched the man's vital organs before exiting out the other side. The trooper only took one last moment to draw a breath before collapsing onto the floor with a small trail of smoke and embers leaving his fatal wounds.

With the crippled ship now falling towards the forests below, Deimos needed to make an example of the crew with extreme prejudice so it was time to kill them all and he couldn't wait to get started.

 **Please leave your thoughts and comments. Thank you.**


	21. Downfall

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 20**

 **"** **Downfall"**

[June 10th, 2558]

[Atlesian warship _Axiom_ , Command Bridge]

[6:31 PM]

"What the hell happened!? Give me a status report!" Captain Harris, a middle aged Hispanic male who possessed rigid facial features, black combed hair, and lemon yellow eyes, barked as the ship beneath them trembled and glided towards the ground.

A crewman roared back "Primary generators went offline! Engines offline! Weapons and shields offline!"

"Captain we're losing altitude!" another yelled.

"I noticed Cale, bring backup generators online and fire the emergency booster engines!"

"Aye Captain!"

The crewmen leaped into action, bringing the two auxiliary generators online as well as diverting non-essential power to the emergency boosters, Harris noticed the lights dimmed and the large holographic tactical display in front of flickered as the electrical systems readjusted themselves with the new power distribution settings. Beneath the airship, an array of external vents opens up each revealing a booster drive hidden inside the hull only for moments later to ignite and generate enough thrust to slow the ship's descent and eventually bringing the vessel back into an appropriate altitude.

"We're leveling out now" a crewman reports.

"Good" Harris sighed rubbing the back of his head after that hair raising moment, his voice was now calm and collected "I need a sitrep on our current situation, have personnel on high alert and get me a channel to Ironwood."

The crew got to work once again, alerting all crewmembers and working up on a more detailed diagnostics of the ship's crippled systems. The ambient red light came on over the captain's head signaling that they had to use minimal power to keep the ship afloat via the emergency thrusters until they can return to a repair dock.

Then finally a report came "Sir, there's no external damage to the hull but it appears the attack came from inside the generator room."

"How's that possible?" Harris wondered "That room was sealed tight and under constant guard- send a team down there to control the situation and talk with security."

"They're already on their way; I even gave the order to lockdown the hangar until further notice."

The captain glared at him "Lockdown? You mean this came from the inside?"

"I believe so Sir, there was no other vessel in the vicinity and our sensors would've detected movement on the ground."

Harris finally quickly realized ". . . Then the attacker is among our ranks . . ."

Then without warning a crewman alerted them "Sir! There's reports of shots fired near the brig, two teams are not responding to our calls."

"The brig? That's too close to Deimos- I want Saber Platoon down there stat, we can't risking having that freak running freely among the ship."

He then turns to the entire crew "And I want a full sweep of the ship! Use the crew roster to find anyone that doesn't belong here, either detain or eliminate the stowaways if you come across them."

"Sir Yes Sir!" the bridge crew roared.

As the men under his command began to coordinate with the on board troops and security personnel, another bridge member reports "Sir, I'm getting no response from communications."

"What do you mean no response?" the captain asked as he ventured over to the crewman.

"I mean they're not responding to our requests at all."

"Get me a visual in there."

"Aye Captain."

Harris returns to the centralized holoboard as the crewman brought up one of the security monitors that resided inside the communications center, in an instant they found that every single resident technician and officer inside was either dead or on the verge of it. Standing among the bodies was a lone short girl with a pink umbrella twirling over her shoulder and a wide mischievous grin across her face as she looked up into the camera, straight back at Harris himself.

The captain growled under his breath "Dammit" then he quickly gave his next order "I want two platoons to move in and retake communications; we need a channel to Ironwood as soon as possible."

"Aye Captain!" a security officer responded.

[ _Axiom's_ Brig]

The alarms sounded off throughout the ship, troopers from every corner relentlessly search for the supposed stowaways that were disguised as one of their own. But only few had thought about checking the brig which was supposed to be one of the more secure parts of the entire vessel, and it was best to investigate quickly.

Inside behind the locked doors, Vince and Thorne were gearing up for close quarters combat, checking their rifles one last time and ensuring their knives were close at hand when they would need it. Deimos however only needed to take out his UNSC issued rifle and small arms from the duffel bag Vince carried around since they came aboard.

After latching the M6C and M7s onto his magnetic strips and works the charging bolt on his rifle he asks without looking at the troopers " **What's the status of the ship?** "

Thorne was the one to answer "Shields and weapons are offline; they're relying on reserve power to stay in the air though we have charges on the secondary generators ready to blow on your call."

" **Good, let's not keep the captain waiting.** "

The SPARTAN and accompanying troopers walked their way over to the locked bulkhead doors previously made so by Vince to ensure they weren't interrupted during their preparations. Deimos gave a subtle nod to Vince who then lifted the temporary lockdown causing the hatch to release a sharp loud hiss of pressurized air and slide open, quickly revealing a dozen or so guards who were preparing to breach.

Most of the troopers quickly raised their rifles training them on the SPARTAN and collaborators, only a few of them however gazed up at Deimos' towering stature and shook with anxiety and fear. Deimos in turn only gazed down upon them, finding a mixture of confidence, heroism, and fear in their facial expressions. Both sides stood feet from one another with rifles trained on each other, save for the sociopath whose rifle only hanged in one hand, but neither would pull the trigger as they anticipated each other's course of action.

"Surrender yourself Deimos! Or we will use lethal force!" a soldier barked.

The augmented super soldier only glared back at the one who made the demand and replied " **You'll burn before you get the chance** " and in one swift motion he brought his rifle up into his two hands and opened fire sending armor piercing rounds flying into the crowd of Atlesian soldiers.

Five out of the dozen soldiers were quickly torn down by gunfire but the others were quick to react and dive behind cover using the struts that protruded from either side of the corridor, Vince and Thorne took cover as well behind the door while Deimos held his position firing away in rapid automatic bursts. Almost immediately finding cover the troopers began returning fire sending dust rounds slapping against the SPARTAN's energy shielding to moderate effect while his collaborators did what they could to not get shot in the firefight.

The platoon sergeant ducked back down behind cover just in time to avoid a bullet that struck a little too close for comfort and radioed in with the bridge "Command, this is Saber-1! Deimos is free and two of the stowaways are with him, we're pinned down and need immediate support over!"

Shortly after Captain Harris' voice responded " _Acknowledged Saber-1, hold them there as long as you can I'm sending Quake and Ocelot platoon to reinforce your position. How copy?_ "

The sergeant pulls himself out of cover and lands a decent burst of accurate rounds on his target "Copy loud and clear Command! We'll hold-CAAGH!" he cried as he took a 7.62mm round to his right shoulder, knocking him to the ground.

" _Saber-1 come in, Saber-1 do you read!? Respond that's an order!_ "

The sergeant tries to get himself back on his feet but during this painstaking progress he could hear his men cry out in pain as they take on fire and become gunned down by the merciless band. Even in one instance he watched his lance corporal suddenly become engulfed in a pillar of white hot flames, no outcry of utter vaporization could be heard over the deafening roar of the fire, and nothing remained of the corporal's body, just ash and embers carried away in the air. The sergeant finally got up onto his knees by the time he looks up and finds that the rest of his men are now dead or critically wounded with Vince and Thorne mopping them up with gunshots to the head, while Deimos himself walked over to him in a calm fashion and stopped feet in front of him.

The black titanium-clad soldier then kneels down to the sergeant's level and drew his magnum in hand; he asks " **Do you think you and your crew still have control over the ship?** "

The Atlesian clenched his teeth "You won't take the _Axiom_ , there's too many of us to handle. Even for you."

" **Hmm . . . you're right about one thing, trooper, I won't take the ship, because I intend to see it burn to the ground** " Deimos then aimed the magnum at the sergeant's forehead and fired.

With the sudden final crack of gunfire the sergeant's body slumps onto the floor prompting the executioner to stand back up and holster is M6C in favor of his MA5D, Vince and Thorne finished up with the last survivor and met back up with the super soldier who proceeded further down the halls.

Vince reports as the three walked side by side "There's an armory not too far ahead, heavy security and soldiers are probably being armed there as we speak."

" **We'll deal with them accordingly, but our main priority is the command bridge.** "

Thorne adds "Good opportunity to stock up on munitions and perhaps some heavier armor."

"My thought exactly" Vince remarked.

[7:02 PM, Beacon Academy, Infirmary]

It wasn't a full day and yet SPARTAN Farley found himself in a medical bed for the second time, it was embarrassing at first but the weapons specialist could live with that knowing that he saved a life on the second occasion. Speaking of said life, Ruby sat close by as the soldier rested peacefully waiting for him to soon wake up from his sleep.

She sat there silently staring at his face, the ruggedness and etched scratches on his skin told her he had more than his fair share of heavy combat over the years. It made her thought about how life was like off of Remnant, for the UEG and this 'Covenant' BB mentioned, and she was soon fascinated by the idea of traveling through the stars, being able to see entire planets without a telescope, it was certainly awe inspiring.

After some time she hears the entry door open and close behind her and heavy metallic footsteps quickly followed, it wasn't long till she heard Sandra's voice speak behind her "How's he doing?"

Ruby didn't bother to turn to look at her "He's doing fine . . ."

"Mm."

She hears the SPARTAN grab a chair from a nearby bed and drag it over to where it was positioned next to the huntress, she then sat down next to her and pulls her helmet off for the first time revealing her short cut brown hair, blue eyes, and tanned skin, and sets the helmet aside before she took in a deep breath and exhaled.

Rose gave only a glance to her before turning back to Farley "You look pretty."

The SPARTAN grinned lightly "Thanks . . . I wasn't trying to look my best. Everyone's in the dining hall, you should go and get something to eat as well."

"No, I'll be fine" the huntress answered calmly.

Sandra didn't argue and left it at that, the two continued to stare at Farley for some time until finally Ruby wondered "What is like to be out there?"

The soldier turned towards young Rose "Out where?"

"Off Remnant, in the stars."

"Oh . . . well it's a big place to be. We never know what's going to be around the corner."

"Have you been to many planets?"

"Only a few, Reach, Earth, New Harmony and a place only known as The Ark."

Rose finally turned her eyes to her "The Ark? What kind of planet is that?"

"It wasn't a planet at all; it was a massive installation that resided outside our galaxy's border."

"Wait- how's that possible?"

"I have no clue; story has it an ancient civilization that lived in the galaxy long ago created the Ark in order to build a defensive array of weapons that could keep them safe from harm."

"So if they were protected by the Ark what happened to them?"

"I'm not sure myself . . . they were a powerful race to reckoned with for sure though."

That left Ruby puzzled, wondering what could have existed long before anything, and then she had to ask "What were they called?"

Sandra took a moment to remember, she had the answer "They were known as the Forerunners. And they lived around a hundred thousand years ago . . . before they vanished into history."

The huntress couldn't believe what she heard, her jaw now ajar as she tried to comprehend the amount of time has passed since these fabled ancients had reigned undisputed in all the known galaxy. She was amazed and afraid imagining the power they must've wielded in their prime.

"So what happened to them?"

"I wouldn't know . . . one moment they were the guardians of the galaxy and the next, gone."

It was then when Farley began to stir from his sleep, giving low raspy mumblings and groans before soon enough his eyes began to open.

Ruby quickly turned her attention to the waking SPARTAN and greeted him as he sat up in his bed "Hi Farley."

The weapons specialist gave an acknowledging nod to her before Sandra states "You did a good job back there at the warehouse."

He only grinned lightly at that and started to climb out of bed, placing his armored feet on the ground and stretch his arms and back. Afterwards he finds his helmet laying on the small table sitting next to the bed and picks it up before sliding it over his head where it fit comfortably.

"Glad to see you're doing fine Farley, figured you would still be in bed for . . . maybe two more hours" Sandra remarked as she stood up from her seat.

She only received a subtle hiss from the specialist when Ruby had to ask "That armor really saved us, I've never seen anything like it before."

Sandra elaborates "Its power armor if you ever heard of it."

"Power armor? What's the difference between that and standard body armor?"

"Traditional body armor is what you see on the Atlesian troops, power armor is on a more sophisticated level and could compete with most infantry and some vehicles while keeping the wearer inside relatively unharmed under heavy fire."

"So what makes yours special?"

"Simply put, the MJOLNIR [GEN2] is a successor to our previous models, the dense titanium alloy plating gives us unmatched durability while the bodysuit underneath grants us our superhuman abilities you've probably seen during your fights with Deimos, which unfortunately makes him all the more difficult to handle."

"Is there ways to beat it?"

"Well . . . we could always use overwhelming brute force to incapacitate Deimos, but that would likely come at a cost. The alloy plating can shake off small caliber rounds without a scratch but armor piercing rounds from a standard issue rifle should crack it and the shields can take a beating before breaking which wouldn't be complicated with concentrated fire."

Ruby then pulled out the armor restraint she earned from one of her belt pouches "We still have these."

"That's probably our best chance at capturing him, just one of us has to place it on his armor and he'll be helpless, but that means getting close to him."

"I can handle it."

"Let's hope on it."

[7:04 PM, _Axiom's_ armory]

"FALL BACK! FALL BACK!" a trooper cried as he ran from cover to a secondary defensive position.

Armor piercing and dust-based rounds zipped back and forth in short automatic bursts, but only outcries of pain were heard from one side of the vicious close-quarter firefight. Desperately defending the armory entrance are three squads of Atlesian troopers, using what cover they can and firing back while not trying to get hit themselves. On the other end Deimos, Vince, and Thorne were slowly advancing, the SPARTAN who steadily marched in the open firing off accurate bursts that normally found their targets and the accompanying troopers who moved from cover to cover firing away to keep the enemy pinned down.

An Atlesian sergeant pops out of cover to fire a single round at the approaching SPARTAN, the dust round collided with his armored chest and finally broke what was left of his shields leaving his body exposed to incoming fire, but Deimos returned the favor and fired a quick burst of projectiles in which two of them tore through the trooper's chest. Dust rounds now slammed into the titanium alloy armor and bodysuit, most of which deflected off or stopped entirely leaving only dinks and shallow scratches while a few made some damaging effect but only on a miniscule effect.

Then a lieutenant barked "Focus fire!" prompting the remaining troops to turn their aim and open fire upon the SPARTAN who was quickly forced to halt and hold position.

While his armor was capable of shrugging off the incoming fire he realizes that his aura was beginning to drain, feeling such energy wither under the endless barrage of dust projectiles, and eventually his assault rifle was shot out of his hands forcing him to throw up his arms in a 'X' form deflecting further incoming rounds, his body staggered as each round made their mark.

Vince ducks behind cover as a bullet struck across the strut he hid behind, he then looks to see the seven foot sociopath taking immense fire and calls to him "Dammit find cover!"

But Deimos didn't heed his warning instead his anger began to fester inside him, becoming ever more annoyed by the unrelenting attack by the troopers until a round slammed hard into his left knee causing to fall into a last stance.

Quickly enough his anger bubbled over its point causing the SPARTAN to stand and let out a guttural roar " **RRAAAAAAGH!** " as a scorching pillar of searing flames rocketed from his two hands.

The sudden rush of fire immediately vaporized those that stood meters from him, Vince and Thorne managed to survive simply by staying behind him, and those that were standing beyond the vaporization point were still engulfed in flames and began to panic as they tried to extinguish themselves, only a few of the remaining troopers were only received singed uniforms and heat flashes when they ducked behind cover just in time.

Vince and Thorne appeared from cover, seeing smoldering corpses and standing men flailing about trying to put out the fires, and quickly placed merciful shots into the panicking men sparing them from a slow agonizing death. However they were now hesitant to move ahead now without Deimos' word, he simply glances back at where his rifle laid, damaged beyond repair, and instead drew his dual M7s from his thighs before advancing again. Those that survived the flames quickly rose out of cover once more to resume their attacks, forcing Vince and Thorne to take cover while Deimos engaged them with lethal precision bursts from his two automatic weapons sending 5mm Full Metal Jacket rounds ripping through their body armor into their bodies. In several exchanges of rounds the last of the troopers were dead save for the lieutenant who hid behind a strut with his rifle close to his chest, he draws a deep breath and exhales knowing this would be the end and in a split second he jumps out of cover and fires off an accurate burst of five rounds that hammered the SPARTAN's chest sending him stepping back a few steps from recoil before Vince and Thorne moved up and fired upon the lieutenant. The loyal trooper's armor managed to defeat two of the incoming rounds until it was breached and the lieutenant cut down in moments from more accurate fire.

Deimos took a moment to allow his shields to recharge and his aura to gain strength once again, the three proceeded down the hall to where they found the armory the troopers were desperately defending, the bulkhead hatch was sealed tight with only a keypad visible off to the side.

"Think we can get through that?" Vince wondered.

Thorne grinned as he sets his rifle aside and started working on the pad "Give me a minute, I got this."

" **Be quick about it, we don't have all day** " Deimos growled.

"Alright alright calm down . . . I said I got this."

The SPARTAN was tempted to shoot him but he refrains himself and allows the soldier to do his work, knowing if the Vince and Thorne were able to better equip themselves then it would liken their chances of success. Soon enough Thorne makes it through the security measures and the door unlocks itself however Deimos and Vince readied themselves, suspecting there will be troopers to handle inside the armory. The internal door mechanism shoots out a hiss of air before the hatch began to slide open, the two brought their weapons to bare and surely enough a white bolt of energized dust shoots out striking the SPARTAN across his shielded helmet causing him to stagger while Vince fired a shot back to the origin of the first shot, the bolt slammed into something and he was greeted with a pained shriek followed up by a heavy thud as a soldier collapsed onto the ground.

Vince waited for another moment thinking there wasn't just one soldier, but no one else fired their weapons, he then signals Thorne to move in. His partner acknowledged the notion and braces his rifle against his shoulder before taking careful steps into the room, checking corners to ensure it wasn't a trap. Vince looks over his shoulder to see Deimos had already recovered and now stood there looking further down the corridor.

He then shifts his glare to the soldier " **Take only what you need.** "

Vince nodded in compliance and follows his friend into the armory while the SPARTAN simply stood watch.

[7:38 PM, Dorm Rooms]

Team RWBY were in their dorm room doing what they normally do, Ruby and Yang playing a board game in the latter's bed with Zwei lying next to the former, Blake reading one of her romance novels, and Weiss who simply sat in her bunk watching the two sisters play. Sandra and Farley were also present after being invited by Rose, currently Sandra leaned against the wall next to the window gazing out into the orange evening sky while Farley stayed near his own wall near the door merely watching Belladonna, more specifically the book she held in her hands. Everyone was fairly silent for the most part but it was clear in all of their minds that they needed to talk about something, they were just waiting for the first one to talk.

Sandra kept gazing up high, seeing the stars becoming ever brighter as the sun slowly made its descent into the horizon but among the bright lights she could easily make out some familiar patterns that could be seen from few of the outer colony world suggesting that the distance between Remnant and the nearest UEG world to be quite a few lightyears apart, perhaps a little more. Though it bothered her knowing the remnant factions of the old Covenant or even the rising threat of Promethean Forerunners could possibly find this planet as easily as they did. The thought of such an invasion would be catastrophic, the Atlesian military would stand no chance at all and the hunters and huntresses will be hunted down and overwhelmed no matter how skilled they are. Remnant would fall in a month given. So it pleases her knowing the UNSC found it first.

She eventually turns around and begins watching Yang and Ruby play their little game though it wasn't very long till she noticed something familiar lying on the desk in the corner, a SRS-99 Series-5 Anti-Materiel rifle.

She was prompted to ask "Where did you get that?"

The girls all looked up at Sandra and followed her glare to the rifle, Yang curtly responded "From Deimos."

The SPARTAN walked over and took the weapon into her hands, the first and obvious thing she noticed was the missing ORACLE-N optical scope attachment. She looks around the room with the scope nowhere to be found so she returns to the rifle itself, it appeared to be in perfect condition but only found one round in the box magazine when she slid it out.

"Where's the scope?"

"Under my blankets" Ruby answered.

"Why?"

". . . Reasons."

She sets the rifle down and makes her way over to Ruby's bunk bed before she begins digging through the blankets until she found the scope in one piece, for a moment she pondered on why Rose would have it in her bed but she didn't bother to ask her about it. Instead she returns to the desk and slides the scope onto the rail mount locking the attachment in place. Ruby then glanced up to see the rifle wielding SPARTAN, both the armor and the weapon shared the same rugged design philosophy commonly used by the UNSC armed forces very much unlike the warriors of Remnant who custom build their own weapons to fit their own individual styles like her and her scythe. It made her wonder if the men and women of the UNSC are just like their weapons, mass produced and eerily similar with no distinction among them, just seeing Sandra made her look formal with no personality.

Sandra sets the rifle aside and leans her back against the wall next to the desk, Farley eventually came over and kneeled down next to Blake who continued to read her novel. Soon enough her amber eyes shifted from the words to him, finding that he was merely reading the back cover of the book where the summary and reviews from renown critics are written, and resumes reading.

"So what exactly are we doing?" the female SPARTAN questioned, feeling the need to get something done rather than sitting around.

"What can we do?" Yang replied "We just have to wait till Deimos tries something again."

"And when he does?"

"Then we go to work."

"That doesn't seem very effective if you ask me."

Weiss asks "What would you do?"

She sighs in frustration "I don't know . . ."

Everyone felt the soldier's impatience, knowing every minute they wasted just lounging around meant that Deimos could be getting stronger with his new powers, Yang then came up with a suggestion "How about we go train?"

This caught SPARTANs' attention so she continues "We'll just do some exercises and maybe show you what we had planned for Deimos."

Sandra felt this was better than nothing, it also provides her and Farley a chance to possibly learn from the huntresses, "Alright, that sounds like a good idea."

Blake closes her book and begins to stand up from her bed "I'll go get the others."

As everyone got up and started heading for the door Yang turns and notices Ruby hadn't gotten up "What's the matter Sis? Don't you wanna come?"

Rose shook her head "No . . . I think I'm going to go talk to Mom for a bit."

"Alright . . . want me to come with you?"

"Don't worry about me Yang" her little sister answered with a small grin.

Long gave a caring smile accompanied by a nod "Just be safe" and left with the others, as she enters the hallway Sandra came next to her and states "I thought her mother died."

"She did . . . but Ruby still goes to her from time to time."

"It's risky to go alone."

"She'll be fine."

[7:26 PM, _Axiom's_ Command Bridge]

"Dammit! Cutlass Platoon and Nomad Squad fall back to tertiary defensive positions! Link up with Excelsior Platoon and shore up your defenses near the communications center, we have to buy the breaching teams more time to bypass the lockdown!" Harris roared after learning about the takeover of the ship's armory and the fall of two more squads of his own men.

The lieutenant on the other side responded, heavy gunfire intertwined with his own voice, " _Acknowledged Axiom Actual! Falling back to Excelsior and- CUAGGH!_ "

"Lieutenant? Lieutenant!? DAMMIT!" the captain bellowed slamming his fist down on the console before him.

He quickly turns to a crewmember and demands "What's the status of Galileo's progress?"

"They're almost done cutting through Captain, they'll be breaching in two minutes."

"Good, the moment they retake communications I want a direct line to Ironwood ASAP."

"Aye Captain."

Another terminal operator reports "Captain! Nomad and Cutlass has made it to their positons, but Nomad is down to two men."

Harris growled to himself "Argh . . . bring Romeo Squad up from the medical bay and reinforce their positons."

"Aye Captain."

Deimos and his team of collaborators were slowly gaining more control of the ship with each passing minute through either blood or subterfuge and Harris could feel his grip slowly loosening around it. He couldn't figure out what they could possible want from this ordeal.

[Near the Communications Center]

"They're dug in pretty good!" Thorne barked as he tried to stay behind cover with dust-powered projectiles pouring down their way from the defending troopers.

Across from on the other side of the corridor, Vince takes a moment to come out of cover and fire a single bolt that slammed into the chest of a soldier, knocking the man out flat but he was able to get back up on his feet afterwards and resume fighting.

"I don't know what you're talking about! I can hit them just fine!"

"Ah well good for you Vince! It's nice to know you're still a jackass!"

Deimos simply blocked out the bickering and poked his head out for a quick look finding a total of fourteen men positioned ahead of him, the defenders managed to set up a pair of large metallic barricades right next to each other as a sort of fortification to reinforce their hold on the sector of the ship. These troopers were more organized than the random pockets of squads he encountered along the way, perhaps the fact that these men had more time to prepare themselves unlike the others. Nonetheless he intends to blow right through them just like the rest, only this time it's going to take a little more effort.

He reaches into one of his pouches and produced an M9 Fragmentation Grenade from it, they were well away from the outer hull so the explosion won't likely cause an atmospheric breach and depressurize the entire deck. With a press of the button he appears out of cover and hurls the device over to the blockade, the grenade itself bounced on the floor and rested itself right against the foot of the left barricade where it detonates sending a blast wave that rocked the Atlesian defenses and shrapnel ricocheting off the walls, only one man was injured by the flying debris but the others continued to lay down suppressive fire.

Deimos had hoped the grenade would've done more damage but he'll take what results he gets, now he had to find a way to handle the rest of them. But his moment to think was short lived when he heard Vince shout something out but he missed it, he looks again to find four robotic soldiers rushing to aid their organic counterparts, each standing at an accurate six and a half feet tall, white sleek armor covering the arms, legs, chest, and head but left the midsection, neck, joints exposed, and they're most notable feature was the 'Y' shaped visor each shared.

"AKs inbound!" Thorne yelled just as he spotted them too.

The Knights simultaneously leaped over the barricades and began taking the initiative leading a counter assault, each expertly keeping the attackers pinned down for the most part. Thorne and Vince tried to squeeze off a few rounds but they either missed their target or the round merely smacked into the well armored parts of the Knights' bodies causing them to only stagger.

Deimos holsters his SMGs and quickly orders his men " **Lay down your weapons!** "

Thorne glared back at the SPARTAN "What!?"

" **Just do it!** " he roared just moments before his body faded into thin air.

Vince and Thorne glanced at one another, feeling uneasy about what they were told but they had little choice but to trust the sociopath that just vanished out of view, then they reluctantly tossed their rifles aside and threw their hands up with Vince barking "Cease fire! We give!"

The troopers halted their attack and began marching forward with their weapons trained on the two infiltrators, however a squad kept their weapons forward regardless of the two knowing Deimos was still in play. Two troopers began restraining the hostiles while the four knights continued forward, checking behind each strut for a SPARTAN ready for a fight but to everyone's disturbing surprise he was nowhere to be found.

"Search results: Negative" one of the knights reported in a low mechanical and masculine tone.

The platoon captain wasn't buying it "That can't be, he was just here, search again."

"Acknowledged."

But as the bots turned to resume their search, the platoon captain was swiftly lifted up in the air and just as quickly brought down onto an invisible knee with his back breaking in a loud snap before the now limp body being thrown towards the two closest troopers who were knocked down without even knowing what had just happened.

Another trooper raised his rifle and quickly fire a shot towards the origin of the attack, the bolt slams into a solid object causing the seven foot SPARTAN to flicker into view long enough for everyone to see him reach his hand for the combat knife before turning back to full invisibility. Deimos was standing right in the middle of the group.

One trooper barked "Get back!" just seconds before the next trooper was struck down by a heavy fist and seconds later another being impaled through the abdomen.

The standing soldiers quickly turned their aim on the cloaked attacker and opened fire but rather than seeing bolts slam into their target the shots simply flew past one another, indicating that Deimos had repositioned himself elsewhere before anyone could've known.

"Where is he!?" one cried out as he frantically looked left and right.

The others quickly done the same, looking in every direction for signs of movement. Everyone was deathly silent, even Vince and Thorne who couldn't determine where their ally will strike next, until one of the knights was quickly torn in two from the midsection. All eyes turned to see the severed knight collapse onto the ground just seconds before Deimos revealed himself wielding his combat knife in his right hand and his M6C magnum in his left.

"TAKE HIM DOWN!" a trooper roared before opening fire sending bolts hurling towards the SPARTAN.

But in mere moments the super soldier began weaving through the gunfire, firing back six rounds where each found their own marks sending men falling to the ground in anguish, and instantly break down another knight by catching it's legs in a low swing of his right, toppling it onto the floor, and crush the head underneath his boot. The first shot landed against his shielded shoulder before Deimos turned his attention towards the others and quickly darted for the nearest trooper, he quickly closes the gap and effortlessly dislocates the man's right arm and end it with a gunshot fired through the underside of his chin.

Another trooper made a clean hit against the sociopath's helmet but the round simply deflected into another direction, he then immediately gained the attacker's attention prompting Deimos to raise his gun and empty the last five rounds into the soldier's chest before slitting the throat of yet another man who attempted to tackle the SPARTAN. The last two knights holstered their rifles in favor of the three foot straight blades built into their forearms, bringing them into combat ready status, and rushed Deimos using a tag-team effort to overwhelm him.

The first of two lunges at its target with the intent of running its blade through his armored chest but Deimos ducks off to the side before grabbing its arm and tear it clean from its socket in one good pull. The knight retaliates by swiping its remaining arm across the SPARTAN's neck however he had already ducked below the blade and launched his own fist smashing into the bot's midsection, shattering the fine components and severing it in half. The other knight attempts to make a low swing for the legs but Deimos' reflexes forced him to dive over the blade, now finding himself behind the android, and drive his own knife into the back of the AK's head where the central brain connected with the spinal cord causing the machine to spasm uncontrollably before shutting down with a dying 'whir.'

Only three of the troopers remained now all terrified by Deimos' ferocity as he tosses the dormant knight aside and began walking towards them. Then in one final act of defiance the three took aim and opened fire sending one last volley, in response the SPARTAN immediately broke into a sprint ducking and weaving through the gunfire until he reached the nearest soldier, going into a power slide and cleaved his knife through the man's right arm. The trooper cried out in agony as his arm and rifle collapsed onto the floor, grasping his open wound with his only hand till he fell to his knees, but Deimos kept on the assault dashing for his next target. The second soldier managed to land a shot on the SPARTAN's chest but it didn't matter when he pounced onto the soldier and plunge the knife into his throat before leaping towards the last trooper. The last man standing was immediately met with a gut-wrenching blow to the stomach causing him to keel over onto the ground before which Deimos then planted his right foot on the man's neck and crushed it under his weight, finishing the last of the defense force.

Vince and Thorne were stunned and now had new respect for their ally, Deimos finally returns to them and breaks the restraints off their wrists prompting them to pick up their weapons once more and move on with the mission.

"The hell was that?" Thorne whispered to his comrade.

"No clue . . . I-I'm still processing what just happened" Vince replied as he looked down at the dead they passed.

The three reached the door to the communication center, it was nearly cut through by the atlesians before they arrived, and the SPARTAN gave three hard pounds against the metal frame only to receive a lighter response from the other side signaling that Neo was still fine.

" **We're almost there, keep moving** " Deimos remarks just as he resumed walking towards the bridge.

Vince and Thorne had no choice but to carry on.

[Sixteen minutes later]

Upon walking through a seemingly endless labyrinth of corridors and elevator lifts, Deimos and company finally manages to reach a T-shaped intersection with the off branching corridor leading to the bridge itself. They all expected the command center to be guarded but to what degree they didn't know.

They were approaching the intersection when Deimos threw up a right handed fist signaling the others to halt and slowly crept to the edge of the wall where he peaks around to see a long empty corridor before him, approximately twenty to twenty two meters long, and the entrance to the bridge on the far end. The reinforced hatch itself has been fortified to an extent by six standing troopers all positioned behind another one of those portable barriers with four in the crouched position and two standing behind them.

Almost immediately they spotted the SPARTAN's dark helmet and opened fire sending a flurry of rounds zipping down range nearly striking him just before he ducked his head back.

" **You two, other side** " he orders motioning his head to the other side of the intersection.

The two soldiers had done what was asked, they rushed through the gunfire and reached the other side of the corridor across from Deimos, almost immediately Vince fires a shot back at the defender only for the round to slam into the side of the barrier before he was forced to duck behind cover when a burst of rounds came flying his way.

"They're pretty dug in deep!" he called.

" **So I've noticed** " he answered as he tried to take another peek and be quickly met with another volley of dust projectiles, he then glanced at Thorne and then to his rifle " **Let me see that.** "

Thorne briefly glared at his rifle before he gives it a toss sending it across the open intersection and letting Deimos catch it. The SPARTAN gave the weapon a quick lookover, the black and white trim finish covering a majority of the weapon, the lack of a stock and the overall blocky design, the traditional conventional layout was present with the magazine placed in front of the trigger, and the weight of 5.3 kilograms, roughly three pounds heavier than the MA5D which weighed only 4.1 kilograms when fully loaded.

After ensuring the safety was flicked off he glances around the corner again only revealing his head, after a quick look he then reveals himself fully before taking aim and fire a single bolt down range, the round slammed into the upper chest of one of the crouching soldiers where the hardened metal alloy took most of the damage while the wearer was merely knocked onto his back. Surely enough the soldier got back up with only bruises and fired back along with the rest of the squad forcing the SPARTAN to return to cover before he was caught in the barrage.

It occurred in Deimos' mind that the Atlesians' body armor was more developed to stop dust-based projectiles and attacks but it was practically useless against solid armor piercing slugs fired from nearly all UNSC armaments given their penetrating value. Of course on the other end of the spectrum, Titanium-A is highly resilient to dust firearms though there were a few exceptions to that such as the arm-mounted heavy auto and plasma cannons found on the Paladins that could easily defeat the armor of a SPARTAN and high powered rifles such as Ruby's _Crescent Rose_ when a round tore through his lower body during their first engagement.

Putting the thought aside for now he turns his focus back on the defending troopers, obviously the rifle just won't satisfy his needs so he tosses it back over to Thorne and in exchange brought one of his M7s to bear. With a flick of his thumb he throws the safety off and darts out of cover towards the defending troopers with his weapon braced against his shoulder firing off small pinpoint bursts of fire, his two subordinates then followed him in as well doing what they can to keep up.

In the first few seconds of the assault one trooper was shot down by a combo of ballistic and dust-powered gunfire and never got back up and the SPARTAN's shields was already depleted once the first spray of concentrated fire had struck against his body. Vince and Thorne made good use of Deimos as cover as they stayed behind him and offered him fire support when he began to slow down under withering fire.

However in the midst of the fight the two standing troopers ceased firing and glanced at one another, knowing the time has come they nodded to one another and took a step back before turning their weapons on the unsuspecting troopers who continued to hold the SPARTAN back. One soldier heard the distinct cocking of a rifle and turned his head to find their former compatriots aiming down at them just seconds before they open fired, gunning the remaining three men down like animals without a second thought in a swift and violent display of cruelty.

Deimos eventually slowed to a halt and lowered his weapon as he approached the two traitorous men who then gave a quick nod of acknowledgment, Vince finally caught up and asked "Hell Grey, what took you so long enough to do that?"

The soldier he was referring to, Grey, grinned showing his canine teeth and answered "Eh I was starting to enjoy these guys' company. But I suppose Lucky got tired of them."

The other trooper cackled under his breath just as Deimos approached the door and asked " **Can you get it open?** "

"Yeah, it just needs the right code" Grey answered as he stepped over to the keypad and began punching in an eight digit numerical code.

After putting in the last digit the keypad gave a warring warble that indicated the code was invalid "What?" the soldier muttered before he quickly puts in the code again only for the same response to occur.

He glances back at everyone, the three other men and the SPARTAN all staring at him though it was Deimos' glare that unsettled him, he tries again this time saying the numbers out loud so that everyone could hear. But the code was yet invalid.

" **Is something the matter?** " he asks, his annoyed tone made the faunus shudder for a moment.

"They must've changed the code, it'll be a while before I can figure it out."

" ** _A while_** **is something we don't have. Time to move to alternative means.** "

The sociopathic super soldier stepped forth, holstering his SMG, and planted his right hand against the door " **Once these doors open, I want the captain alive.** "

[Command Bridge]

Harris and the standing bridge crew stood ready for the inevitable breach, some were racked with nervous anxiety when the gunfire fell silent but others showed adamant spirit as they trained their officer-issued sidearms towards the door where the infiltrators will be coming through.

Shortly later they began to notice the center of the hatch began to glow with an orange hue, the glowing grew brighter until the point where the metal began to show signs of warping and melting. Then in an instant the hatch was blown clean out of its housing allowing four armed soldiers to move in and systematically execute the crew who put up little fight with their pistols. The brief but furious firefight only lasted moments before it was Harris who was left standing when Thorne blasted the captain's weapon out of his hand. Harris glared menacingly towards the armed men, each had their rifles trained on him and fingers on the triggers, but then he shifted his eyes to the central figure that finally walked through the hole he had blasted through.

Deimos was silent until he came to a stop a few feet in front of the captain with his arms crossed across his chest, " **Oh Captain My Captain . . . I would say that it's a pleasure to finally meet you, but then I'd be lying.** "

"That makes the two of us . . ." the captain snapped back.

" **Hmph . . . Do you know why I'm here?** "

"I have the faintest idea."

" **I came to deliver a message.** "

"Consider your message received" Harris answered, referring to the total amount of men the SPARTAN had slaughtered to get here.

" **That was just the preamble. I need to deliver my message to General Ironwood and Headmaster Ozpin at Beacon Academy, I believe you were going to make your report to them anyways.** "

The captain didn't like where this was going "I was . . . but then you and your band of marauders deprived me of the ability to communicate with the outside world."

" **Allow me to rectify that problem** " he replies before he taps on his helmet's comlink and orders " **Neo, bring it back up.** "

Almost instantly Harris hears the positive chiming of the communications array connecting with relays across the world and primarily the Cross Continental Transmit Tower at Beacon Academy, he turns around to see the holoboard display that the connection was successful and now standing by for orders.

" **Better get to it.** "

[Headmaster's Chambers, Beacon Academy]

"It's been three days since we last saw Deimos and it's becoming very hard to determine what he'll do next or when" Ironwood states with concern heard in his voice.

"I understand General, but in order to avoid a kingdom-wide hysteria we have to ensure that things are calm as possible. Sending more troops to patrol the streets is something he wants" Ozpin replied relaxing in his chair, his usual calm posture and voice kept the conversation from getting out of hand.

"And what if he attacks? What if he made some old man's house a target and blows it up hurting dozens of others in the process? We're looking at a hysterical scenario either way, I prefer to have it with minimal civilian casualties if you don't mind."

"I want to save lives as well James, but we'll be creating more chaos and paranoia than there has to be. And you said it yourself the night of the attack on this Academy 'He is definitely military so he'll stay strict to orders' and unless his orders are to harass the elderly for their wallets, we have nothing to worry about."

"I know what I said, but it's the fact that he's working with the White Fang that frightens me. Giving those extremists with a devastating tool can cause a lot of damage. He'll become a full blown terrorist targeting innocents at a whim."

The Headmaster then gives a worrisome sigh "I know . . . I just wish there was another way . . ."

Then as if by cue, an icon on Ozpin's terminal blinked accompanied by a joyful chime catching the twos attention "I wonder who this could be?" the professor wondered just before he pressed the answer key.

Immediately afterwards a green life size hologram appeared in front of the desk next to the general, taking the shape of a Hispanic sporting a traditional Atlesian naval uniform signifying his rank as captain. The hologram looked worried and disappointed with his eyes staring into the Headmaster's.

"Captain Harris? You have something to report?" James asked.

The captain's voice crackled, a typical outcome when using holographic communications " _I do General, I . . . um I regret to inform you that the Axiom has been boarded and is now considered captured by the enemy. We stood no chance . . ._ "

"Captured? How could someone capture a warship?"

In response, the seven foot armored behemoth known as Deimos appeared behind Harris, his helmet looked down upon Ozpin who sat straight up in his chair while Ironwood took a step back clenching his fists.

" ** _It takes a little more effort than one would think General_** " Deimos answered seemingly unamused by the question.

Ozpin adjusted his glasses before standing up "Deimos, I could've guessed you were part of it. What's the pleasure this time might I ask?"

" ** _I've only come to deliver a message on behalf of my new employer._** "

"So when did the dog become an errand boy?"

The SPARTAN gave a short gruff pointing at the Headmaster " ** _I'm no errand boy- you know how much damage I can cause._** "

"We're aware, yes, but that won't stop us from hunting you down and make you answer for your crimes against the people of Remnant."

" ** _It may be some time before that day comes but let's not get carried away._** "

"Of course, the message."

The SPARTAN situated himself " ** _Dear Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy, you may have already realized that there's a force moving against you. Plotting to tear down everything you ever hoped to protect and love, wipe away what you call history and begin an era anew. Seeking to consume the light and plunge this world into the darkness._**

 ** _How much longer will you stay within your walls, in your chair, before you come to realize that everything you have is built on a false hope?_**

 ** _How desperate will you be to hold onto faith when those walls come crumbling down and the fragile alliance of kingdoms becomes shattered like glass?_**

 ** _What will your hunters and huntresses hope to accomplish when the world they once knew is gone forever?_**

 ** _A day of reckoning is coming Headmaster, and soon all of the world will kneel in one stroke of a blow. I can assure you that this revolution will never fade away into history and the world will never be the same._**

 ** _I hope you're ready Ozpin, because this will be the fall of your hopes and dreams. And nothing will stop it._** "

Ironwood stepped forward "Make the threats all you want Deimos, if you're trying to scare us you're doing it poorly."

" ** _It wasn't threat, it was a warning for what is to come and I will become instrumental in my employer's efforts to bring everything down upon your heads._** "

"Is that all?" Ozpin asked not showing any sign of fear or concern.

" ** _Not quite_** " he replied before taking a step towards the Captain and place his right hand on the man's shoulder " ** _This man would also like deliver a message . . . was there anything you want to say anyone? Perhaps to your family?_** "

Harris' lips quivered as he gave a shaky sigh and closed his eyes " _Aria . . . I'm sorry I won't be there when our baby boy is born. I- I just want you to know that no matter what happens that I still love you very much . . . and I wish that I can be there when you need me the most. I just hope that despite all odds that our boy can grow up and be happy . . ._ "

The General and Headmaster quickly noticed Deimos slowly pulling away and draw his M6C to the back of Harris' head " _I love you two very much . . . and nothing will change that. Tell Kyle that . . . tell him that I'm proud to be his father . . . and how much it hurts me knowing I won't see him . . . I'm sorry._ "

In a pull of a trigger a gunshot rings out and suddenly Harris' body became limp before it toppled over onto the ground lifeless, the SPARTAN afterwards holstered his weapon and stepped over the body before standing directly in front of Ozpin's desk " ** _Don't think I haven't forgotten about those children, I'll be coming for them and the SPARTANs you're harboring and I will see to it that they burn_** " he then turns to the General " ** _Oh and you might want to send search and rescue, I doubt any survivors will last long in the forests alone with no help._** "

Following that comment the hologram disperses leaving the two men alone at last.

[ _Axiom,_ Command Bridge]

The sociopath turns to the four men standing behind, each couldn't believe he committed cold-blooded murder " **Head back to the hangar, and blow the charges.** "

"W-what about you?" Thorne asked.

" **I'm going for a walk, I'll meet you all at our repositioned headquarters.** "

The troopers knew this wasn't exactly part of the plan, but who were they to argue with a SPARTAN? One by one the men left silently while Deimos took a moment for himself.

He looks down at the corpse of what was once Captain Harris, a father whose wife has yet to give birth to their child, he felt conflicted inside knowing he shouldn't have done it despite his cruel ways. He lets out a frustrated sigh and pulls out the flip lighter, looking down upon the initials he began to hate himself for what he just did.

" **I'm sorry . . .** " he spoke, no one else being around to hear, before he gently tucks the lighter away and began heading off the bridge.

[Twenty six minutes later]

It wasn't long before he felt the floor shake beneath as the secondary charges detonates and destroys the backup generators causing the ship to lose all remaining power and start to fall out of the air. Fortunately he wasn't too far from the nearest series of lifeboats and began sprinting towards them.

Four minutes of nonstop running later and the soldier finally came to the portside of the vessel where there should be lifeboats standing by, but upon closer inspection he finds that all pods have been launched leaving empty launch chambers with the hatch wide open, that was all he needed. After climbing through the hatch he steps onto the bottom of the chamber then he props his right foot against the step behind him and after counting himself to three he breaks out in a sudden burst of speed before he dives out of the chamber, off the burning _Axiom_ , and into a freefall state with the forest floor little over two hundred meters below.

The SPARTAN swept his arms back and kept his legs tight as he angled himself away from the falling ship in order to put some distance between himself and the inevitable blast. The forest floor was coming up fast and in one smooth motion he flips himself right side up and activates his shoulder-mounted thrusters to activate and decelerate his fall before coming to a relatively rough landing on the ground. After making the successful landing he turns around to watch the _Axiom_ slowly go down in flames with multiple hull breaches littered along the outer hull, all with fire and smoke spewing out as a sign of catastrophic systems failures, and eventually the once proud ship of the Atlesian Navy came crashing down nose first, the bow suffered immense damage as it dragged itself across the surface, the large pieces of metal that was previously wielded on were forcibly torn off as the hull tried to compensate for the impact it made that shook the ship. Finally the ship grinded to a full halt and one last explosion roared through the air as one of the primary engines went critical and destroyed itself along with a good portion of the ship.

He watched the flames engulf the ship for a few more minutes before he turns and begins heading north back towards the city of Vale, the dense foliage around denied him a chance to be evacuated by air but he couldn't care, this was what he wanted. Knowing Grimm and Atlesian Search and Rescue would soon overrun this place he made pace and made his way out of area.

[9:27 PM, twenty-two miles outside the city]

The lone SPARTAN now walks alone through the dark forests that surrounded him, his pace was slowed and it was now more of a casual walk than a steady march. He hasn't heard or seen anything ever since the destruction of the _Axiom_ but he didn't mind, it gave him time to think about himself so far. He rarely ever does this sort of thing but after executing Captain Harris he felt it was necessary.

Harris was a young man who still had much to hope for like his wife and unborn child who will never be able to see his father because of the SPARTAN's cold actions. Deimos felt conflicted feeling he should've given the man a chance to live but he had to remain strict to his ways to show his enemies he wasn't about to back down anytime soon. He couldn't keep his mind off the wife and child, two people that will probably take years to recover from this, something he himself hasn't been able to do in decades.

In fact he was once in Harris' position when he was about his age, only the family didn't lose a loving father . . . it the direct opposite.

Deimos was once Adam Gale, a young prominent officer working for the New Mombasa Police Department during the mid-years of the Human-Covenant War as an undercover agent routing out drug cartels, arms dealers, and chop shops. Taking his side in life was his fiancé Daniela Juno, a gorgeous woman whom he fell in love with after he had graduated from the Academy.

He served well with the NMPD and even earned a private commendation busting one of the notorious cartels that were responsible for dealing out a new experimental concoction that proved deadly even in minuscule doses. But eventually he was tasked with the investigation of handling police officers that were living on the other side of the law, this led him to a man named Jacob Yanze who dealt in extortion along with a handful of other officers that contributed to this illegal operation. Months of undercover work later and finally Adam was able to gather enough evidence that placed all of those involved under arrest, of course by the time Yanze realized who Adam really was it was too late when SWAT broke through the doors and began cleaning up the mess. Yanze and several key members in the ring were arrested while only a few managed to get away, afterwards Adam was given a promotion by the commissioner and a round of applause for his hard work and dedication.

A week later he was at home taking leave with his fiancé it was something they hadn't had for the longest time and they were overjoyed to have this time together, by this time Juno was already five weeks pregnant. This was everything he could ever want and then some.

However one night before going to bed the two heard the screech of a car coming to a halt soon followed up with their front door breaking down, Gale had grabbed his off-duty M6C and rushed downstairs to find the perpetrators to be the five corrupt cops that fled from the Yanze raid, all seeking revenge for ruining their lives. The ensuing clash was chaotic, with two of the corrupted dead by fatal gunshot wounds, the other three were pretty banged from a round of hand-to-hand, and Adam who had his fair share of scars and bruises. The three fled from the house but they proceeded to douse a portion of the house in gasoline and light it, engulfing the lower half of their two-story home in flames.

Believing the cops fled to avoid being caught, Adam ran back upstairs and grabbed his love before rushing back down and find that the doors were blocked off by flames, their only means of escape was through a window placed at the front of the house. Placing her life above his own he urged Daniela to climb through first so she could get to safety however before she could escape, a sound of gunfire cracked through the air and suddenly to Adam's horror a bullet had tore through her abdomen and spine killing the baby instantly. With the house burning and the dirty cops still lying in wait, he was forced to carry his gravely injured fiancé down to their basement and waited it out as long as they could. However in their final moments, Daniela lost her will to live and slowly passed away in Adam's arms much to his agony. He had lost everything in one night.

In the following morning among the ruins of their old home, firefighters were able to find him and his dead wife and child, Gale himself wailing to his heart's content grieving for his loss.

Two months afterwards and Adam was back on duty breaking down illegal operations as tasked, however during his time he took on a personal mission utilizing all resources he had at his disposal to locate the cops until he finally learned that they were trying to rebuild their organization out in an abandoned warehouse in the old city district. He pursued the corrupted officials and found them planning out their next move, he remained hidden and managed to bar all windows and doors denying them any chance to escape, then he took justice into his own hands.

He douses half of the building in gasoline and set it ablaze, the flames roared and the cops quickly learned what had happened now desperate to escape. However when they all ran to the nearest door they found it barred from the outside and through the small window they found Adam standing there staring back at them. The cops pleaded and begged for him to let them go but he didn't listen, instead he called the local fire department and told them of the warehouse fire. Eventually the begging turned into agonizing screams as he watched the cops burn before him, unable to escape and destined to die this way.

With his revenge completed, Adam fell to his knees and cried out loud into the night sky until police and firefighters arrived on scene, the flames were put out and the once proud member of the NMPD was arrested for murder in the first degree, arson, and destruction of private property. Adam was tried and found guilty on all accounts and sentenced for life at Recusant Prison and Correctional Facility on Mars. From there his sense of humanity devolved and every little part of who he was became washed away in the mental madness that ensued. That was until ONI found him.

Nineteen later and now SPARTAN Deimos found himself standing at the edge of a vast clearing in the middle of the forests, he had been walking for what seemed an eternity with his thoughts completely lost to him. Until he noticed movement in the distance, under the cover of the dark he found a color he quickly recognized, a red Ruby Rose.

 _'_ _What is she doing out here?'_ he wondered, soon curiosity got the best of him and he began to follow utilizing his active camouflage to remain hidden.

He quickly catches up to her and maintained a twenty foot distance from her, staying among the trees and bushes while young Rose took the dirt path unbeknownst to his presence. The SPARTAN tried to understand what could possibly possess this girl to come out in the middle of the night alone in a forest bound to be thriving with Grimm, despite having seen none during his walk. His helmet's audio receptors could pick up the soft hymn of her voice as she strolled along, her voice seemed worried, sad even. This only pulled more on Deimos' intrigue.

[Seventeen minutes later]

After a period of stalking Deimos found himself near a cliffside overlooking the vast expanse of forests that reached beyond what the eye could see. Ruby continued walking onwards until she stopped near the edge of the cliff before a small stone that had writing engraved into it, the soldier stuck to the tree line and watched from a distance, there he could hear her voice:

"Hey Mom, it's been a while . . . School is going great and I'm making new friends every day. Speaking of friends you wouldn't believe who I met recently. Their name is Sandra and Farley and guess what? They're from space, isn't that pretty cool!?"

They call themselves SPARTANs which is a kind of super soldier if you want to get technical but . . . they lost two of their friends when trying to stop another SPARTAN named Deimos . . . which is why I came here to talk about . . .

This man's dangerous, he's been attacking people without cause and he even hurt some of my friends, Yang even, I don't know what he wants or why he's doing this but he says it was because of me that these people had to get hurt. He even said that he remembers me from somewhere but I don't remember anything about him. He says it's something about my eyes.

Do you know anything about him? . . . I really wish you were here to help me, you would've totally kicked his butt, but I guess this is something I have to do now. I'll learn what's going on and I'll get to the bottom of it, you can count on it . . . he wants to be feared but I'm not afraid of him, neither is my friends. We fought him before so we know what to expect . . .

This galaxy is a lot bigger than we knew . . . there's a lot more going on than we know, it sounds a little scary but maybe this is a good thing . . ."

She fell silent for a moment, looking up at the crackled moon before falling back to the stone in front of her "I should get going Mom . . . it's been great talking to you again . . . I love you."

Afterwards she slowly turns and begins to walk away back the way she came. Deimos watched her quietly leave the scene before he uncloaked himself and steps out from the trees, he didn't bother to tail her any further and was more interested in the stone she was talking to. He made his way over to the stone which turns out to be a gravestone with the engravings of a rose and the epitaph below it:

 _Summer Rose_

 _Thus I kindly scatter . . ._

That was it, Deimos had finally remembered. The silver eyes, the last name, the close resemblance of mother and daughter, he remembers everything now. Behind his LOCUS helmet his expression saddened, after being haunted with one bad memory he was reminded of another, but he didn't let it take hold.

" **It's been a long time Summer . . . you're girl has grown quite a bit since I last saw her all those years ago** " he spoke calmly, almost seemingly proud of something, but then that pride was dashed away " **But I'm afraid I'm going to have to break the promise I made . . . my darling Rose . . .** "

He gave the altar a moment of silence before he gave a calm nod and began to walk away, heading back to Vale where his master awaits him.

 **Please leave your thoughts and comments. Thank you.**


	22. No rest for the restless

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **ACT THREE: The truth**

 **Chapter 21**

 **"** **No rest for the restless"**

[June 12th, 2558]

[Beacon Academy, Library]

[1:31 PM]

[Two days later]

It has been roughly over forty eight hours since the destruction of the Atlesian warship, _Axiom_ , and so far there hasn't been a word or mentioning of Deimos or his accomplices. With the destruction of said ship and now the SPARTAN threatening everyone on behalf of his new master, it's only a matter of time before he strikes again. Fortunately there was a brighter side to this as the military was able to rescue forty seven survivors from the _Axiom's_ wreckage unlike the previous incidents where it left very few to no survivors at all.

Sitting amongst themselves were Ruby, Yang, Jaune, and Farley who sat around a single table playing a game of Remnant, while Weiss, Blake, Ren, and Sandra stood close by talking with one another.

"I just don't get it . . . where's the point in bringing down an airship in the middle of nowhere so far out from the city?" Sandra continued to wonder as she looked out the window they stood by.

"He's just trying to scare us" Schnee answered as she leaned back against a bookshelf with her arms crossed.

"I think he knows we're not afraid of him anymore" Blake remarked, her eyes carefully walked through the pages of a book she's holding "Probably a show of force."

The female SPARTAN turned her head towards the faunus "Maybe" then looked back out "There's got to be more to it."

"YEAH-HA!" Ruby's voice boomed prompting the others to turn their heads and look.

On the table they could see that Rose had just eliminated one of Jaune's fleets over the kingdom of Atlas with a Nevermore, Yang seemed a bit relaxed, and Farley was closely watching the action take place so that he may learn from it.

"Aw c'mon! That was my flagship!" Arc whined as he watched Ruby take his ship off the board "Farley aren't you going to do something?"

Throughout the whole game he had been reserving his forces into defending his own territories, each piece representing an army or a fleet has been carefully placed to his design using the lay of the land to his advantage. He notices Yang's staring glare, her lilac eyes locked on his augmented blue, she's been trying to understand his plan the entire time and hopefully come up with a way to foil whatever he may have in mind. But Jaune was right, it was time for him to act.

The first move he makes is sending out his Third Fleet, currently ferrying his Seventh Mechanized Battalion, and land upon the shores of Vale where Ruby's forces have neglected to protect. Afterwards he deploys his infantry and combat vehicles onto foreign soil and gains a foothold on the region.

"Farley how could you!? I thought we were cool!" Rose playfully argued now feeling a little betrayed by the fourth generation SPARTAN who then shrugged his shoulders.

It was now Yang's turn "Alright let see . . ." she pondered "I'll send my pack of beowolves to flank Ruby's Mechs guarding her eastern shores, and by using my smuggler card I can do so without detection."

The players watched as Xiao Long moved her beowolf piece from the Kingdom of Mistral to the shores of Vale, Rose went into an outcry "Why!? Why is everyone ganging up on me!?"

This move granted Jaune a moment of relief and time to regroup his forces, he had already figured that the SPARTAN would attack Ruby as she was the largest threat to him at this time, what surprised him was Yang following Farley's move and open up her own theater on Ruby's western front. The only thing he couldn't figure out what Yang is planning to do.

Paying no further mind to the players, Sandra and the others returned to their previous activities reading books and looking out windows. Pondering about their next move.

[2:21 PM, Outside the City of Vale]

Six miles northeast of the capital city the White Fang movement began to settle into their relocated base, currently set near a cliffside within the heavily forested areas that bordered the Forever Falls. Men and women continued to set up tents of varying sizes and purposes among the heavy vegetation to avoid detection from aerial surveillance as Taurus and Fall discussed their next move within their makeshift Ops Center.

The two leaders stood on either side of a large wooden table with an aged map displayed on top featuring markings of White Fang movements, bases, and targets, Adam had his hands firmly planted on the table as he stares down at Cinder who stood calmly with her arms crossed.

"And I'm telling you that we're in no position for another strike, my people are exhausted- they won't be able to stand up against Atlesian troops let alone a huntsman!" Adam spoke confidently and somewhat sternly, seemingly annoyed after hearing Cinder's plan.

"Deimos will need what men you have in order to perform his next task, as powerful as he is I'm sure it would only be a matter of time before he becomes overwhelmed. We can't afford to lose him now" Fall replied, her voice was calm and collected as usual.

"But the target you're talking about is next to suicide, he done it once by himself and managed to get away with minor injuries, what's stopping him from doing it again?"

"Ozpin and the good General will be more prepared than the last time, not to mention they have the support of two SPARTANs who are trained to take down their own."

"He killed one and took the other prisoner by himself, he's more than capable."

"He managed it with the aid of three other people, had he been alone he would have lost."

Taurus briefly grunts "Fair point but what good are my men against two SPARTANs? We already know what one is capable of."

Cinder eventually places her right hand around her chin "Yes . . ." she began to ponder "And perhaps you're right . . ."

Adam immediately knew something was off, normally Cinder was well sure in her own plans that she didn't need to change it or admit that someone else's input was right, so he had to ask "What do you have in mind now?"

Fall's amber eyes then risen and met his mask "I think I'll go talk to him."

Without another word from either one, Adam watched Cinder turn and walk away heading out of the tent.

[Cliffside]

SPARTAN Deimos stood silently alone at the edge of the cliff, overlooking the distant city with the tower of Beacon Academy standing tall above all else. His arms were crossed as he pondered about everything he has so far achieved in his time off and on Remnant, his time in the police force, the murder of those that had wronged him, his time in prison, his time as a SPARTAN, the countless tally of further murders by his hand . . . . Juno.

It almost made him wish he died along with his fiancé in the fire . . . almost.

"I figured I would find you here . . ." a voice from behind spoke to him.

He looks over his armored shoulders to find Cinder slowly approach him with her finesse in her movements, he turns his head back forward and continues staring out into the distance.

" **Do you believe in destiny?** " he asks subtly.

Fall's expression changed just as she stood next to him, seemingly surprised when he asked such a question, then answered "Yes . . ."

" **. . . Even if it means to destroy everything?** "

"Destiny is still destiny. You're distracted by something aren't you?"

" **Maybe . . .** "

"Care to tell?"

" **Not likely . . .** "

She could easily tell he was haunted by something, she could hear it in his voice. She proceeds to gently grab hold of his helmet and take it off with no resistance from the SPARTAN, once she removed it she found his orange eyes staring out into nothingness, his facial expression was stern but that couldn't hide what he felt inside.

She gently rests her hand on his shoulder "You can trust me, Deimos, you know that . . ."

He then finally turns to look her in the eye "I know, but there are things that are better left alone."

He reaches out with an open hand, waiting for Cinder to hand back his helmet to which she obliges him, but before he was able to fit it back over his head she leaned in and laid her lips upon his own. His muscles tensed rapidly but then relaxed gradually, she felt his worries wash away along with the warm sensation before she eventually breaks away seconds later.

"Remember who you belong to" she asked.

The SPARTAN snugly fits his LOCUS helmet over his head and answered diligently " **Yes Ma'am.** "

Fall gives a half-sided grin before she waves for him to follow "Come, we have need of you."

With no objections he begins to follow her back to the Operations Center.

[Operations Center]

It wasn't long before the two reached the tent and walked through the open flaps, Adam, who was studying the maps, glances up to see the two before standing straight up and cross his arms waiting for what his associate had in mind.

Cinder took her spot at the table across from Taurus and Deimos came to a stop next to her, his arms folded across his chest and his glare was locked on Adam.

Fall spoke "I already informed him of this little predicament of ours."

"I still think we need to reevaluate our choices and consider the fact that my men are exhausted from the relocation" Taurus retorts.

But Cinder pushed on "Surely your men can last one firefight, especially with the backing of Deimos, I want the people to know that they aren't safe within the precious walls."

The White Fang leader firmly placed his right-handed fist on the table stating "Clearly you didn't hear me, my men-"

" **Enough** " the SPARTAN spoke curtly, firm enough to grab the attention of everyone standing inside the tent who glanced over to see what the commotion was about.

Adam immediately shifts his eyes to the titanium clad soldier "Excuse me?" he asks, sounding as if he was offended.

" **Our enemy has us outgunned and outmanned by a ten-to-one ratio, and yet here you two are bickering about priorities. I had higher hopes . . .** "

Adam looks to Cinder, finding out that even she wasn't expecting this sort of reaction from such a loyal and obedient soldier, he goes on " **Clearly we need to look for a compromise that will benefit all of us, and I believe I have a solution.** "

Fall had already given her subordinate her full attention "Go on . . ."

Deimos looks down to the map on the table, displaying the city of Vale and the surrounding forested areas ranging from the northern Forever Falls to the Emerald Forests situated near Beacon. His eyes scanned the local area only finding several promising points, at this point the two superiors could only imagine what the SPARTAN was doing.

And then he found it " **There** " as he points out a small abandoned shanty town residing on the southern borders of the Emerald Forest, not too far from the city southern eastern walls that guarded the residential district.

"There what?" Adam growled, now wanting to know what his associate was going on about.

" **This is where our next move will be.** "

"What do you have in mind?" Fall wondered.

" **If I can get the Atlesian army to come to this point within the forests, I believe we can satisfy both our needs. Taurus' forces can make use of the surrounding area with guerilla warfare tactics that will keep the men from exhausting themselves when dealing with an enemy that won't be able to see them, while I handle with the main force that will be air dropping into the village. If we can cause enough damage close to the walls-** "

"It can cause panic among the people . . . letting them know that danger is just on the other side of their precious walls" Cinder remarked feeling appeased so far.

But Adam couldn't say the same "You're talking about bringing the entire Atlesian Army right on your doorstep, and you want whatever able men I have to fight them. They're not like you in case you forget."

" **If the time comes and the Atlesian's are focusing their attacks on your men, then they are allowed to fall back and go into hiding. But given the circumstances I believe they will be more determined to apprehend me than taking a band of mere fighters.** **Your men will be safe and the people of Vale will begin to realize how close they're living to danger.** "

Taurus then lets out a sigh, already knowing Cinder was for this plan and that he was already outnumbered in terms of votes "Fine . . . I'll see what men I have available."

" **I won't need many . . .** " Deimos replied as he watched the leader leave the table and make his way towards the exit.

Fall stepped forth towards the SPARTAN "You know the huntresses and your former compatriots will come for you . . ."

" **I do and I will deal with them accordingly, I will not fail you.** "

"I know you won't. Go and get prepared."

As ordered, Deimos begins to walk towards the exit where Adam had left, but before he could reach for the flaps he hears her voice "And Deimos, if you do encounter the huntresses, I want you to eliminate them. They will be your priority."

" **Will Neo be aiding me?** " he asked not turning around.

"No, I have an assignment for her to carry out, you will be doing this on your own. Do you have the proper necessities for this?"

" **. . . I have the perfect weapon for the job.** "

"Good . . . you may go."

The sociopath nodded in acknowledgment and proceeds to leave without another word.

[2:46 PM, Dorm Rooms]

"And to think he almost had you . . ." Ruby remarked as she sat on the edge of her bunk bed, petting Zwei who laid peacefully next to her, her feet dangled back and forth over the edge.

"Eh, I liked to see what he was capable of" Yang answered back, laying back in her bed with her hands behind her head.

"You do realize he could've destroyed you had I not softened him up."

"Maybe, but I would've won anyways."

Blake was laid back as well, reading one of her books, and asked "Still, you had to admit he almost won."

"Almost" Long quotes.

 _"_ _Honestly I don't see the point in boasting about a fictional victory, it's just a game made for entertainment. It's just for the fun"_ BB butted in, voicing his opinion to the room.

"Yeah, and it's fun to win" Yang retorts.

The AI sighs _"_ _Why do I even bother. Clearly you never heard of sportsmanship."_

"Yes I have, I have good sportsmanship."

Blake sets her book aside for a brief moment "Yang, you jumped up and yelled in Farley's face 'I won I won'."

Yang shifts her glare to her partner "No, I said 'Good game Farley, better luck next time'."

"Yang" Weiss intrudes "We all saw _and_ heard you yell right in front of Farley. Jaune had to give him a wipe cloth to clean the spat off his face."

"Wait- I spat on him!?"

"While you were yelling."

The blonde huntress then ceased her argument "Oh . . ." she responded curtly.

At that moment a knocking came on their door, the girls quickly came to realize the knock was too light to be a SPARTAN, "Who could that be?" Weiss wondered as she stood up from her bunk and started to make her way to the door.

Yang tried to remember "Aren't the SPARTANs supposed to be seeing Ozpin and Ironwood right about now?"

"Didn't think they come back so soon . . ." Ruby adds.

Weiss reaches out for the doorknob and twists it, opening the door to reveal a strikingly familiar face standing before her, Schnee took a moment to take a step back with her light blue eyes wide open in shock "Ruby?" she asked with a raised voice.

Rose leapt from her bed and walked calmly towards the door, this cause Yang and Blake to sit up with attention as they wondered who was at the door. Their questions was quickly laid to rest as Ruby reached the doorway and found who was standing there, someone whom she thought was gone, Penny.

"Penny?" Ruby asked in disbelief.

"Hello Ruby" Polendina responded as she happily waved her left hand, her right arm was suspended in a sling showing signs of her recovery.

Rose was practically stunned at this moment, it's been nearly a week and a half since she watched her friend be gunned down by the rogue SPARTAN and now here she stands with only an arm sling to show for her injuries.

"You're alright!" she suddenly cheered as she leapt forward and wrapped her arms around her friend, Polendina didn't even seem to mind or appear surprised as she held young Ruby close to her.

The others of Team RWBY came out with small grins on their faces, glad to know that Penny had made a good recovery from her injuries, just as the two broke away and Ruby mentions "A lot has happened since the attack that night."

Yang steps up behind her little sister and places her hand on her shoulders "Yeah, we even have a couple of SPARTANs on our side."

Penny's eyes shifted to Long's and her head tilted slightly "SPARTANs? What're those?"

"They're a couple people who came to capture Deimos, right now they should be talking with Ozpin and Ironwood."

Ruby then reaches for her scroll and opens it up "I'll call them right now-"

"Wait, they have their own scrolls now!? Since when!?" Weiss exclaims.

"Since the other night duh . . . sheesh where were you Weiss?"

"I was with you in our room! How did you even know about it- how did they even get one!?"

"Ozpin gave it to them" Blake answered, seemingly already aware of the events.

Schnee eventually lets out a defeated sigh muttering "Alright . . ." as Ruby began dialing Sandra's scroll.

It was only a few moments later when the SPARTAN replied _"_ _I-Is this thing on? Hello?"_

"Hey Sandra, you still talking with Ozpin and Ironwood?"

 _"_ _No, we just left."_

"Oh, you wanna hang out or something?"

 _"_ _I guess, Farley is getting hungry so we're heading to the cafeteria if you want to meet up."_

"Okay cool! We'll see you there!"

Without another word Sandra ends the call, prompting Rose to gesture a wave saying "C'mon guys."

[3:02 PM, Cafeteria]

The group of huntresses stepped through the doors into the vast cafeteria, students were milling about eating their food and socializing like any other day. The girls carefully looked about the room looking for a distinguishing feature that might give away the location of their friends, Blake however was the first to spot them and pointed out to the far right corner of the hall where a majority of the people had cleared out due to the two occupants that resided there.

One after the other, the group slowly ventured their way through the bustling crowd of people and made it to the table where they found the two SPARTANs sitting across from one another eating their own food. However once Penny laid her eyes on them the two soldiers lifted their heads and stared back at her, almost immediately she became racked with nervous anxiety.

"Hey guys" Ruby chirped as she sat down next to Farley who took a bite out of his apple.

Sandra only responded with a gentle nod of acknowledgment as Yang and Weiss sat down on either side of her, it was only then when she noticed Penny and her glare of uncertainty.

Farley and Ruby caught it as well and immediately knew what was troubling their friend, Rose stood up and reassured Penny "Don't worry, they're friends . . . they want the same thing we all do."

Polendina still seemed hesitant but when she glanced at Farley who looked up to her with his bright blue eyes she gave a weary "Salutations . . ."

The SPARTAN gave a small grin complemented with a subtle nod and gestures her to take a seat, after careful thoughts she eventually sits down next to Blake who sat next to the weapons specialist. Rose took her seat as well and the group began to talk once more.

"So how did the talk go with Ozpin?" Belladonna wondered.

"It went fairly well, but sadly nothing's changed in the manner of opening a line of communications between Beacon and the UNSC" Sandra replied, seemingly uninterested about the topic.

"I don't understand why the UNSC won't just talk to us, we both want the same thing" Weiss firmly states.

"The ship in orbit is under strict orders to not openly interact with the natives of Remnant and maintain M-COM status."

Weiss continued to talk "And yet you and Farley are here, not to even mention Deimos."

The female SPARTAN sets her fork down and turns her eyes to Miss Schnee "In case you forgotten, both Deimos' and our operation was originally meant to be stealth only- Deimos has gone mad and . . . well you know what happened to us . . . we had no choice."

Schnee began to back down "I'm . . . I'm sorry."

The lieutenant then sighed "Look. It's not your fault- I just want to take that bastard down for what he did to our team."

"And we want to take him down for messin' with us" Yang adds in her undeniable confidence.

Sandra then smiled a little "Then let's hope one of us gets to him first."

Everyone shared assuring glances with each other, some given with a simple nod or grin, agreeing with what she had said. It had already became obvious that they needed to take Deimos down one way or another but unfortunately for the time being they could do nothing due to the lack of information in regards to his whereabouts. In the meantime they must make do with what they have.

Then to everyone's surprise a mischievous burst of laughter broke out, prompting everyone to look for the source, and it wasn't long for Farley to find the source of said laughter which he growls with disgust in response. He could see Velvet Scarlatina now being harassed by the punk Cardin and his group of misfits, Winchester himself was tugging at the huntress' ears despite the discomfort and demands from her that he should stop, and to top it all off there was no sign of the rest of her team which brings him to take matters into his own hand.

Weiss caught sight of the troublemakers and gave a worried sigh "We're trying to stop a dangerous person from causing harm and yet some people just don't seem to care . . ."

Sandra noticed her comrade fitting his HELLCAT helmet over his head and stand up from his seat "They're going to start caring real quick in a moment" she nonchalantly states taking another bite from her meal.

The group silently watched as the Fireteam Raptor's weapons specialist slowly closes in with a steady march, the nearby students who spotted the SPARTANN approaching either looked away in nervousness or in fear already knowing what was about to happen.

"C'mon little bunny! You're going to do a little hop for us aren't ya!? Hahahaha!" Cardin chuckled as his teammates continued to laugh.

"Cardin let me go! This isn't funny!" the faunus cried out, small droplets of tears began to role from her eyes.

"Stop it!"

But nobody heeded her words, the members of CRDL continued to chuckle in amusement until swiftly Dove, Russel, and Lark ceased their laughing. Unbeknownst to the approaching threat, Cardin noticed his subordinates had stopped and asked "What's the matter? You guys were just laughing!"

That's when he heard a low and hideous hiss originate from behind him but before he could react he felt the piercing cringe of a gloved finger pressing down on a pressure point in his left shoulder and another hand firmly grasping his right arm ultimately forcing him to let go of Scarlatina. Once freed, Velvet turned around to see the armored SPARTAN she became friends with now forcing Cardin onto his knees as he applied more pressure into the man's sensitive joint as he cried out in agony.

Winchester finally looked up to see the jet black HELLCAT helmet staring down at him, the voice underneath growled with utter distaste, he couldn't believe that something akin to Deimos- who laid waste to everything in his wake, is now protecting someone like Velvet.

"Let- Argh! Let go of me! Gahh!" Cardin begged under strain.

But Farley didn't even bother to ease the pressure on the hunter instead he gives another low guttural growl as he now has his victim down on his knees. The other members of CRDL only hesitated to even think about helping their leader, Dove and Lark continued to step back while Russel remained where he was. Even Scarlatina kept her distance but she watched nonetheless.

"Help me you idiots- GAHH! Get him!" Cardin barked.

Russel was the first to act, breaking into a sprint and leap onto the towering SPARTAN who was forced to release Winchester and deal with the threat presented to him, the weight of the boy made the soldier lose his balance but he was able to maintain his footing, immediately grabbing his attacker by the neck and effortlessly tossed the student aside sending him crashing onto a nearby table with people scurrying away in fright.

With Thrush out of the way, Farley turned his attention back to Cardin who was already back on his feet and ready to get payback. He quickly steps forth sending his right fist flying towards his opponent's head though much to everyone's surprise the super soldier made no effort to dodge or counter the blow when it connected with his titanium alloy helmet. However due to the full blown force Cardin had implemented in his attack he did manage to break several fingers in his hand, Farley's head only coiled back from the impact but there was little to no damaged caused.

In response Winchester readies his left hand and swings again but this time Farley threw up his right and caught the hunter's hand within his own, engulfing it entirely as Cardin tried to break free. At that moment the SPARTAN began to squeeze his hand, applying increasing pressure onto his captive up to the point when he began to cry out in further pain. In addition to the agony, the soldier began to slowly twist Cardin's wrist forcing him to contort and fall to his knees as he tried to free himself but there was no progress, Lark and Dove dared not intervene less they want to end up like the dazed Russel and their defeated leader. Students from all around watched silently in shock, hoping there would be an end to this very soon but it didn't seem so.

Finally, as the hunter began to black out due to the sheer pain overwhelming his body, Farley lets go of his hand and shoves him aside into a nearby bench. Cardin, who was heavily breathing at this point, looked up at his attacker and shot off a menacing glare indicating that he wasn't about to quit- only to receive a animalistic snort from the SPARTAN in which case he immediately backs down.

Afterwards the soldier started to look around, finding startled expressions with some mixed in with fear, and uncertainty. However he also received several subtle nods of approval from other faunus that had spectated the brawl.

Eventually his eyes rested upon Velvet who stood silently feet from him, her brown eyes were firmly locked on him- she became somewhat afraid. He saw this and decided to quickly fix it by reaching down towards Cardin and pull him up to his feet, Winchester wanted to raise a fist and strike him but he soon realized he wouldn't last a second round. To his surprise however Farley lifts his hand points to the entrance it didn't take an idiot to figure out what he was trying to say.

 _"_ _Get the hell out of my sight."_

On that note Cardin rallied his boys "C'mon . . . this freak isn't worth it" and began to walk his way out with his fractured hand held close to his chest, Lark and Dove had to retrieve their semiconscious friend from the table and help him out of the dining hall as well.

One by one the crowd began to disperse heading back to resume eating or just leave entirely. Farley shifted his eyes back to Velvet who continued to stand where she was and watch him silently, the SPARTAN wasn't sure how to respond to this silence but he had a gut feeling it wasn't what he had hoped.

A few seconds later has passed and Farley began to quietly walk away, feeling more defeated now that he seem to have frightened Velvet more than helped her, but suddenly the sound of her voice stopped him "Hey . . ."

He turns his head and looks over his shoulder to see her now with a small gentle smile "Thanks Troy . . ." she spoke.

He nodded his head in response and offered his hand to her, gesturing her to come along and sit down with the others to which she gladly agrees with a small nod.

The two began to walk side by side but before they could've reached the table they heard the doors open and close followed up with an agitated woman's voice "What is the meaning of this!?"

Everyone in the entire dining hall turned to see Ms. Goodwitch standing at the entrance with a stern look as she looked across everyone "Who's responsible for harming Cardin and Russel!?" she demanded.

Nobody said a word, each and every one of them saw how Farley stood up for Velvet against the jerk Winchester who had terrorized nearly all students of the academy and were now going to repay the favor by remaining silent. However the SPARTAN lets out a small sigh and raised his hand for all to see, admitting that he was the one who caused Team CRDL's current state of health.

"I should've assumed it was you, you and your partner will come with me."

Farley acknowledged the order and began to make his way forth, even Sandra let out an annoyed groan as she stood up from her seat, but Velvet spoke "Wait!"

This further caught the attention of the people, even Glynda didn't expect this from Scarlatina "It wasn't Farley's fault" she began.

"Then you will come with me as well, all three of you" the professor responded just before she resumed her walk out of the hall, now with Farley, Velvet, and Sandra in tow.

"You think we should go with them?" Weiss wondered.

Yang grabs Farley's tray and began to take her first bite "Nah, they'll be fine."

[5:48 PM, White Fang Camp]

Deimos sat silently in his private tent, sitting atop his weapons crate while making a small cosmetic adjustment to his helmet via a white spray paint can the group had hanging around. As he applied the paint to his helmet he was deep in his own thoughts- his mind periodically switching from mission priorities to personal needs that often pestered him. While his mind strayed, his hands kept on task adding finer touches of white here and there without disruption, he had always enjoyed multi-tasking with more recreational activities as it made him feel more at peace.

He hears the tent flaps shift in front of him, prompting him to look up and find Taurus standing before him with his usual stern expression, "You ready?" he asks.

"In a moment . . ." the SPARTAN replied calmly resuming his artistic work "Are the men ready?"

"I've put together thirteen men, roughly platoon strength, but I've called in some other assets- people who could make good use of that Warthog we took from the warehouses after your friends showed up."

"Good use how?"

"Let's just say that these men a little more militaristic than us, if you will allow them then they can beef it up a little."

The soldier got the idea "Fine, we could use the additional firepower. How many men do they have?"

"Roughly thirty seven or so, plus a couple vehicles fitted with weaponry. They fought the Atlesian army several times before so they know what they're doing."

"Good . . ." he replies before he sets the helmet aside and looks up at his associate "But I have the feeling that's not the only reason you're here."

"Hmph" Adam snorts "You're right about that."

Deimos soon stood up and opens the lid of his crate as Taurus began "I don't care if you die or get captured by the enemy, but I do have a favor to ask you."

The SPARTAN wasn't expecting a favor especially from someone like Adam "And that is?"

"I want you to keep my men alive, you may not care for them but I do. I also understand that you may not be able to save them all- but I'm asking you to do this to the best of your ability."

"I can't make promises."

"I know that, just do your best."

As he said those last words he watched the super soldier produce a BR85 battle rifle, his M319 Grenade Launcher, his M7s and M6C small arms, and finally the disproportionally large Z-750 Binary Rifle. After latching the weapons to several hardpoints on his armor he closes the lid and picks up his helmet before looking down upon it for a brief moment of silence. Taurus then waited as the soldier then firmly secured the helmet over his head with a pressurized hiss before he turned and revealed that he had painted the face of a white wolf on the faceplate.

" **Let's start ourselves a war then.** "

 **Sorry for the wait guys, I got swamped with work hours last week and I had other matters to attend to. Nonetheless I'm still very excited that you all have shown this much support thus far and I will continue to see this story through. As always leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.**


	23. Escalation

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 22**

 **"** **Escalation"**

[June 13th, 2558]

[Beacon Academy, Amphitheater]

[11:56 AM]

[The next day]

Sandra deals a heavy right hook across Farley's armored faceplate causing him to stagger back a couple of steps just before she quickly follows up with another one of her left roundhouse kick to her squad mate's chest forcing him onto the floor. The mute SPARTAN growled frustratingly as he jumps back on his feet and swings a right uppercut which missed its target when she took a step back, but instantaneously lands a fast blow to her left side followed up with a swift strike to her abdomen. In a counteract move the lieutenant draws her combat knife and sets into a reversed grip positon before she makes a wide swing for her opponent's chest. As expected Farley falls back just quickly enough to miss the blade and follows it up with a clean sweep of her legs with his own, knocking her onto her back, and finish it with a heavy downward swing of a fist but Sandra instinctively rolls out of the way letting the SPARTAN's flying fist smash into the floor, leaving the metal flooring dented and warped

Almost immediately after, Sandra launches both her feet into the side of her enemy's head causing him to sprawl out backwards onto the floor. Farley steadily stands to just in time to see Sandra closing in and throws herself into the air intending to do a high spin kick targeting his head, but he effortlessly threw his right arm to deflect her flying foot and then seize it before he threw her body into the floor face first. The weapon specialist then drew his own knife and kneeled down over his teammate's body, grabbing the back of her head and lifted it before presenting the knife to her throat. But in a desperate effort to save herself she shoots her left elbow backwards striking him in the head again forcing him to let go and allow her to roll onto her back with her M6H2 Tactical Magnum drawn on him. However as soon as she realized, Farley had already recuperated and has the tip of his knife hanging millimeters from her throat.

The two were still as ice, and it seems both competitors have lost.

From the distance they could hear clapping and eventually cheers from the audience, the members of RWBY and JNPR along with Professor Ozpin, General Ironwood, Glynda, Port, Oobleck, and a few other teams who remained seated and silent. Farley withdraws and extends his hand to his partner who took it and pulled herself back up before holstering her weapon. Soon enough the girls of RWBY walked onto the center stage to complement the SPARTANs' efforts in trying to wipe the other out.

"I didn't think people could react so quickly like that before" Weiss remarked with a refreshed sense of respect for the two soldiers.

"Well they aren't as fast as me!" Rose shouted with confidence in her voice.

"That's yet to be seen" Blake remarked.

Long didn't continue the debate and instead puts her attention to the two combatants "Great fight you two."

Farley gives an approving nod before he steps away to flex and roll his shoulders, relieving himself of the strain he had put on himself during the fight, Sandra stayed and nodded "Thanks."

Ozpin and the other professors soon followed up with Port stopping before the lieutenant and ask "If you'll entertain my curiosity but are all SPARTANs trained the same way you and Mr. Farley?"

"Standard training regimen for all SPARTAN personnel, not as rigorous as the second generations but it gets the job done. All personnel are also offered training for various other forms of hand-to-hand combat."

"So you-"

"Jujutsu, Farley does Taekwondo."

"Oh . . . I'm not familiar with those terms."

"You will eventually."

"Hmph" the professor grunts.

However Ozpin was rather calm and asks "Lieutenant Sandra, could we have a word in private?"

Sandra took a moment to consider the offer, briefly glancing at her fellow SPARTAN who was surrounded by the members of RWBY and JNPR, then turns back to the headmaster "Of course."

She took the first step to leave the group with Ozpin, but they were quickly met with Ironwood who joined them which prompted her to stop and notes with a calm tone "I thought this was private."

"This concerns him as well. I trust that you two won't start anything this time?"

The SPARTAN shot the general a quick look before responding "No Sir."

"Good" the headmaster smiled "Let's be on our way then."

[12:10 PM, campus grounds]

The three walked silently side by side, with Ozpin in the middle and the others on either side, as they talked amongst themselves while normal daily activities happen all around them as if nothing had ever happened.

"So this 'Master Chief' essentially saved the entire human species from extinction?" Ironwood queried with some form of interest.

The lieutenant nodded in confirmation "That's right, supposedly he was presumed dead after the Battle of the Ark, roughly five years later we found him again and he was already kicking more alien ass. Excuse my language."

Ozpin then notes "It's curious for a soldier with such inspiration and heroism to just suddenly come out of thin air. What was his history before becoming a SPARTAN?"

"We're not sure…" she answered unsure herself.

But the headmaster caught something in her voice "But you know something?"

The SPARTAN sighed solemnly before she spoke "It's better if I didn't tell you."

"Very well I won't pry. But back to the reason I wanted to speak with you. If we are to ever be able to capture Deimos we need full cooperation with the UNSC, we can't keep living in the dark if there are larger pieces in play."

"I understand Headmaster and I tried multiple times to at least establish a line to _High Up_ in orbit" she sighed "But the ship and its crew are under direct orders to not make contact with the indigenous population until further notice. Even if I could get Major Obadiah for you, there's so little he could do to help."

Ironwood steps in for a brief moment "And if he were to give us aid, what does he have for support?"

"Not much, he's currently in command of a Sahara-Class Heavy Prowler which is a stealth reconnaissance vessel in the UNSC Navy. We'll see limited supply drops, advanced surveillance and real-time updates from orbital images, and if you're looking to cause some damage the prowler carries a small network of nonlinear pulse cannons for light fire support."

"Anything else?"

"Not unless you want to level the whole city and then some."

Both the General and the Headmaster stopped in their tracks, prompting their SPARTAN ally to halt as well and turn to them, Ozpin seemed somewhat concerned whereas Ironwood was stricken with fear so he asks "What do you mean 'level the whole city'?" his voice remained calm but it was obvious what hid behind it.

The lieutenant sighed out of reluctance "The prowler is equipped with a single M947 Shiva-Class Nuclear Delivery System on board. If authorized by Sector Command or even Naval Command, the missile can be armed and fired at the desired target. That missile will destroy everything within a twenty-to-eighty five mile radius, depending on the payload. But rest assured even though the UNSC isn't on speaking terms, they aren't below committing mass genocide."

"For what reason could the UNSC possess such a weapon?" Ozpin wondered though he already had a vague idea.

"They were our most powerful means of defending ourselves against the Covenant, before the first deployment of SPARTANs. You both have to realize what steps we had to take to ensure our survival as a species."

Ironwood notes with distaste "But you're talking about massive amounts of collateral and potentially thousands of innocent lives caught in the blasts. . ."

Sandra turned her glare towards him "If Remnant was invaded by a force that no one will be able to stop, how far will you go?"

The general's eyes were firmly locked on the soldier but after some consideration he relinquishes and his eyes shortly after fell to the floor which proved her point.

The Headmaster then decides to move on "With that aside. . . All I am asking you to do is try again. We need cooperation between everyone here if we are ever going to be able to stop Deimos."

Sandra answered with a subtle sigh "I'll do everything I can, but I can't make any guarantees- hell I don't even know what to say to them."

"Then let me say a few words" Ozpin notions.

"What're you going to say? You'll be lucky if they'll actually listen."

"I have a few things in mind. Will you establish a line of communications for us?"

"I can."

"Good. Let's begin."

[12:46 PM, campus grounds near air docks]

Farley rested his eyes as he sat underneath a large oak tree that granted a decent view of the nearby air docks and the city of Vale in the far distance. It has been six days without sleep, starting with the night he had lost two of his closest friends. He hasn't been able to shake the thought that somehow he could've done something to save them, and recently it began to haunt him. The comfort of the gentle wind and the tree against his back only provided a small luxury as his mind wrestled with his body for rest, but his mind was scarred and his body was weak and heartbroken.

 _'_ _Guys I'm sorry . . .'_ he tells himself _'_ _I should've done something to help, react quicker and faster, maybe_

His mind became restless once more as he forced himself to not shed a tear underneath his helmet _'_ _I'm sorry . . . .'_

"Troy?" a familiar and friendly voice whispered to him from beyond his inner thoughts.

The soldier opened his eyes and looks up to see Velvet standing in front of him, she looked down at him with her gentle eyes and a small grin "Mind if I join you?"

He gives a subtle nod complimented with a small sigh; she then stepped over and sat down next to him placing her back against the tree as well. Afterwards she hands him a small rectangular PDA device to which he takes into his hands with an uncertain expression.

"It's kind of hard to understand your voice, so I brought you this. You can type down what you want to say now" she elaborates.

Farley looked down at the device and presses his thumb down on the bottom central diamond-shaped button, prompting the main screen to light up and present digital keyboard for typing. He familiarizes himself with the systems for a brief second before he begins to type.

Seconds later did he finish and presents the PDA to her _"_ _Thank you."_

She smiled in response "No problem Farley" before she looks up to the leaves hanging above them "This is my favorite tree . . . did you know that?"

He begins to type again _"_ _I had no clue. Why?"_

"It stands out here all alone with no other trees close by to keep it company. It reminds me of who I was when I first came to Beacon a few years ago, shy, scared, and lonely. And it reminds me of who I am today, stronger, braver, and someone with friends."

She watched the SPARTAN glance up at the tree above them, most likely trying his best to catch her meaning, so she goes on "During my first year here I would always come to this tree to do my homework alone and be myself. Soon I found out how far away the other trees were and it seemed it was all alone with no one to keep it company. So I keep coming back to it and continue on with life. I guess in a way we're both a lot like the other."

 _"_ _That's pretty deep. I admire that."_

She grinned "Thanks, never really got to tell anybody that. So what brings you here?"

 _"_ _Just needed a place to be by myself, but I don't mind the company."_

"It's been rough the pass few days has it?"

 _"_ _Yeah."_

"Well there's something Yatsuhashi always tells me when I hit my rough patches, he always tells me to stop thinking about the past and look towards the future. If I look ahead then I can see the good that'll come. Maybe you should do the same . . ."

 _"_ _That's the thing that worries me._ "

"Why?"

 _"_ _I don't know, I already lost Joel and Hark in a single firefight. I look ahead and I can already see it happening again. Another one like that and I don't know who will be next, I can't afford to lose anyone else."_

Scarlatina fell silent afterwards, she can understand his fear of losing someone close which somewhat surprises her that a soldier like him feels that way.

"I understand what you're going through. I've lost people too, but I try not to let it get in the way of my life. We can never be prepared for the worse when it happens, that's why we have others ready to help us in our need. Do you have someone?"

 _"_ _The Lieutenant maybe, she's had my back ever since boot camp. But if I lose her . . ."_

"Then you'll have me and everyone else here at Beacon waiting for you."

The SPARTAN looks up to see the huntress's brown eyes which prompted her to hold out her hand towards him "I promise."

Without a moment of hesitation he took her by the hand and nodded gratefully towards her, he then quickly types down _"_ _Thank you."_

Velvet grinned proudly as well as Troy who felt he had someone else to rely on when he needs it, the faunus then moves herself next to him and rests her head on his shoulder, not minding the rugged hardness of the armor.

"I don't understand why people like us just can't get along . . ."

He gives a solemn sigh with his damaged voice, not understanding it as well. It seemed too ridiculous that ONI would want to keep Remnant cut off from the rest of Human space, did they want to keep the planet remained hidden from the Covenant and Promethean forces? Was there something on Remnant they wanted for themselves? Or is this some sort of research endeavor they are trying to perform to further their goals? Countless amounts of thoughts ran through his head and each held varying amounts of promise and logic, but he can never be too certain.

In the distance he spots Winchester and his teammates observing them from a distance, the scorn upon their faces was evident that they won't be letting go of what happened in the cafeteria anytime soon.

Velvet notices this too and remarks "They'll get over it. It's not their first time getting beaten" she pauses for a moment before she states "I know I said it already but, thanks for helping me."

After she mentions that, the members of CRDL looked away and walked off to carry on their own business which didn't bother the two. The two were alone once again as they watched the day pass on, students and soldiers carried the day with a sense of normalcy in their lives once again as if nothing ever really happened, many of them talked amongst themselves and some even laughed. It almost brought that same feeling to Farley and Scarlatina as they watched.

"So where were you from?" she then asked.

 _"_ _A planet called Reach, deep in human space."_

"Reach . . . sounds pretty nice. Almost prophetic too if you think about it."

 _"_ _That's what a lot of people say."_

"What was it like growing up there?"

 _"_ _It was a good life, born to a pair of hard workers who taught me that if I want something done I have to do it myself."_

"Sounds like the kind to be respected."

 _"_ _Agreed. Afterwards I joined the military with Sandra and we fought the Covenant for our species' survival. There's not much else after that."_

"The Covenant?"

 _"_ _Something I don't want to talk about. What about you?"_

She pushes her hair back lightly "There's not much to talk about, born and raised by loving parents, oldest of three siblings, and came here to Beacon for a chance to become something greater . . . is that why you became a SPARTAN? To become better?"

The soldier glanced towards her then answered _"_ _I wanted to be able to protect my home, my family and friends. So yes."_

"Velvet!" a voice called.

The two looked up to see the rest of Team CFVY approaching them with seemingly lax for the time being, Scarlatina seemed a bit surprised but remained just as calm "Oh hey guys! What's going on?"

Yatsuhashi answered "We were just wondering where you were at."

However Coco's eyes remained locked on the soldier sitting next to her, a brief moment of silence filled the air until she finally spoke up "You were the one that helped Velvet yesterday right?" to which Farley nodded in agreement.

Then much to Farley's amazement he catches a small grin on her stern face "Thanks for handling those jerks. They don't know when to just leave it."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing right now. Coco, who had shown clear distrust in the SPARTANs and the UNSC, is actually thanking him for standing up for one of her squad mates.

She continues by asking Scarlatina "So what do you think Velvet?"

Troy had little idea to what they were talking about but his friend knew very well "He's great."

Coco then grinned as she turned her head back to Farley "Right then, consider yourself a friend of the team. Anyone who's willing to help us definitely deserves it."

The soldier gratefully nods towards her, proud to be finally accepted by her and the rest of Velvet's team who all look upon him with the same expressions of pride.

The team leader then asked "Velvet we're gonna head over to our place and spar a little, want to join?"

"Sure. I've been wanting to try out a new technique" Scarlatina responded as she stood up from the ground.

For a moment it seemed the team was about to head off and let Farley be by himself once again, it didn't bother him knowing he could use the time to rest, but before they began to walk Coco noticed the SPARTAN hadn't got up "Hey, you coming with us?" she wondered.

Despite his growing need for sleep, he felt it would be impolite to decline her offer. He steadily stands up onto his feet and joins them on their walk to one of CFVY's training spots somewhere around Beacon, a small part of him begins to hope that he will simply fall asleep while observing the team train.

[2:13 PM, Abandoned village, outside city walls]

"C'mon I needed that gun nest set up an hour ago!" First Lieutenant Greyson barked to the men under his command, setting up a fortified machine gun nest on a ridge overlooking the village positioned in a small basin surrounded by forest, concealed with leaves and branches as to not give away its position.

"We couldn't set the gun with the mount, but we got it fixed now!" a soldier responded before he resumed his work.

Greyson gave a short snort before he looks out towards the village, the combined total of seventy-nine men and women under his command working hard to lay down the traps and emplacements needed to aid them in the coming battle with the Atlesian Military. There were already several makeshift pillboxes and short length trenches built into the horseshoe-shaped ridge line that enveloped around the small village with the exception for the west side where a path existed through the opening of the horseshoe ridge, between the ridge and the town itself was an approximate fifty-to-fifty five wide gap of open fields with the only source of cover being several large boulders scattered about around the town. There were already several anti-infantry and anti-tank mines laid out in the area and all soldiers were advised to steer clear from the fields. So far from what he could see the development was well underway which made him very proud and anticipating the fight to come.

He looks to his left to find the dark armored figure standing alone with his arms crossed as he stared at the village, or more particularly the town's church tower that has shown signs of degradation through the passage of time. He begins to walk over to the lone man to give his report, but in the back of his mind he had already came up several ideas of the mercenary's background history though he didn't bother to entertain them.

At last he comes next to the seven foot soldier and spoke "Everything is moving along on schedule, we should be ready within the next two hours."

" **Have you ever believed in religion?** " Deimos asked aloud, seemingly deep in thought.

"E-Excuse me?" Greyson stuttered.

" **For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end. Psalm 48:14** "

The lieutenant was at a loss at this point "I don't understand what you're saying . . ."

The SPARTAN then turned his head towards the soldier " **Have you ever believed in God?** "

"Maybe for a time, there were many different gods and goddesses that existed in mythology. One was said to be the sole ruler of the Grimm, another created Dust, one even gave rise to humans and faunus. But those are just stories."

" **Everyone has their stories, but the idea and belief behind it is what drives us all towards something in life. The one God I know is said to have created everything as equals, there are no lesser or greater than the other. But instead we dare make ourselves become greater and force others to become less than what they were.** "

"Much like us?"

 **"** **Perhaps, you've risen to the rank of Lieutenant and command the sixty seven lives that are of equal value to your own. My life . . . is a much different case. The events and actions of my past has driven me to become less. Lesser than human.** "

"I didn't take you to be the religious, deep thought emotional type."

" **I've recently decided to take a different path of thought. Reasons I won't explain to you.** "

"And I'm not the privy type. Anyways when do you think the Atlesians will be here?"

" **If they're smart, night time. But if they're bold, we'll see them before sundown.** "

"You sound certain of it."

" **I am.** **You said the fortifications are nearly complete?** "

"Yes, got ten pillboxes ready with two more being built close to the path that leads into town. Our light artillery is sitting a little ways east of here with their guns already aimed on the village with predetermined firing solutions. We were even lucky Commander Bryce let me take one of his heavy plasma batteries, that should put a nice hole in any warship that gets too close for comfort."

" **Vehicles?** "

"Four pick-ups armed with triple anti-air. And that vehicle of yours is fitted for heavy support should the men need it."

" **Good.** "

Greyson glanced around noticing the positions of his men and emplacements then asked "Not to criticize your choice of positioning, but wouldn't we stand a better chance if we were in the village? We could make better use of the buildings for cover."

" **We could, but the Atlesians will be expecting that. The plan is to force them down into the village and box them in. From there your forces will have them surrounded on all sides. Keep them pinned within the town so they won't have a chance to move on your positions, if they do they'll have to go through the mines under heavy machine gun fire.** "

Greyson was silent for the moment, trapping the enemy within the village and then blast them to pieces. He looks up to the soldier and asks "You think we have a chance to win this?"

" **Our orders are not to win or lose this battle, we are to inflict the maximum potential damage upon the enemy regardless of cost or severity. But I advise you do what you can to keep the men alive, the longer they live, the more they'll fight.** "

"And where are you going to be in all this?"

" **I'll tear them apart from the inside . . .** "

[2:43 PM, Beacon Academy, Headmaster's chambers]

Within the office of Ozpin, Sandra made good work modifying a portable Atlesian holocom module, a low, flat disc-like piece of equipment widely used for communications throughout the military network. The General and Headmaster patiently waited for the SPARTAN to put her last adjustments into place, though amongst themselves they could tell they were both anxious and afraid, fearful for what type of response they may receive once they make contact with the rest of Humanity.

"So it's finished?" Ironwood remarked.

The lieutenant answers "Just about . . . there, that should do it."

She then stands back up onto her two feet and turns to Ozpin "I had to rewire the circuitry to allow it to accept the secure UNSC com frequency. It would've been a little easier had our code algorithms been somewhat similar."

"So it will work?" the headmaster claims.

"I'm not going to guarantee anything, I'll be surprised if they answer."

"Then that is all we can ask for, are we ready to proceed?"

"Waiting for your word."

The professor seemed hesitant for a brief moment, knowing that once he opens communications with the rest of the galaxy at large there will be no turning back for better or worse for Remnant and its people.

Finally he spoke after a short sigh "You may begin."

The SPARTAN nods in compliance and activates the module, the machine whirred to life prompting her to begin monitoring the controls and systems. With operation running smoothly she watches over the connection status, the systems effortlessly connected with Cross Continental Transmit Network and low-orbiting satellites before the short range signal resonated outwards towards open space. From there it wasn't long for the outbound signal to find a lone entity hanging in high orbit now receiving said signal, her damn work paid off. UNSC _High Up_ is picking up the transmission.

"They're receiving" Sandra stated with a small grin of satisfaction.

"Are you sure?" Ironwood asked hesitantly.

"Nervous General?" the soldier remarked.

With that comment the good general was forced to compose himself, straightening out his uniform before assuming his usual posture of authority, "Just a little anxious, that is all."

She chuckled underneath her breath, seeing the so-called stoic general act up like this was pretty amusing to her, then she turned to Ozpin "Whenever you're ready, just go ahead."

"Thank you Miss Sandra" the headmaster congratulated her before he steps over in front of the module which recognized him as the primary speaker and began transmitting.

He begins by clearing his throat "Er-hm . . . Greetings, I am Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy and acting representative for the people of Remnant. We have become fully aware of your presence above our home and how strong you could potentially be. What we are not aware of however is what your intentions are for this planet we call home.

SPARTAN Sandra tells me that humanity has become something greater than either General Ironwood nor I could imagine, something we ourselves have strived to become but with no fortunate success. But now your organization has soiled its name by releasing the self-proclaimed monster named Deimos on our own homes, our friends and families, he has killed, destroyed, and ruined hundreds if not thousands of lives and continues to do so despite our efforts to stop him. Now he has turned his back on you and seeks to destroy us all, clearly you see the threat he poses and the damage he can cause should he be left unchecked.

It also has become clear that neither of us are capable of apprehending this man on our own, with your fireteam now at half strength and Deimos' ability to elude or severely harm my students. You already know what I am about to ask of you."

He notices an Atlesian Sergeant step into the room quietly before he moves over to the General and begins whispering something into his ear and hand him a small PDA.

Nonetheless he continues on undisturbed "There is no sense keeping us in the dark any longer, if we are ever going to be able to capture Deimos and bring him in, we need to do this together. Perhaps we should start with a formal meeting face to face, clear things up and move along accordingly."

The sergeant then salutes the general and leaves, letting Ironwood to examine the reports on the PDA he was handed.

"There is no reason to keep the silence about one another, we must act before this man can take any more lives . . ." he closes his eyes and sighs wearily "Please . . . answer me . . ."

He moves his eyes to Sandra, she's been monitoring the monologue so far but by telling the expression on her face, there was no response from the UNSC. On that note she switches off the machine via remote command and said nothing.

"Did it at least get through?" Ozpin hoped.

"It did and they heard the whole thing, your message got through" she answered, trying to remain optimistic about this.

"Well that's all I can ask for I suppose. Do you think they will respond?"

"Give them time, I imagine Obadiah will make the right call."

"It depends on his definition of 'right'."

Ironwood then stepped in after concluding his data review "Well I'm afraid time isn't on our side, satellite imaging picked up a unusually high amount of movement in an abandoned village not too far from the wall just south of here."

"Are the Grimm on the move?" Ozpin asked seemingly uninterested.

"Not Grimm, material analysis suggests there's heavy equipment being moved around. No doubt it's the White Fang."

"How are you certain?"

"Shortly after uncovering this, the cruiser _Visitant_ deployed aerial drones to search the area. Low-level reconnaissance confirms the presence of the White Fang."

Almost immediately afterwards he presses an icon on the PDA screen to bring up a surveillance image and show it to the headmaster "And this."

Upon first examination, Ozpin quickly realizes he was looking at a zoomed in image of the one and only Deimos standing in the middle of the village square coordinating the soldiers beneath his command. Sandra steps over and took notes of the image she sees now, the way she sees it Deimos had already assumed full control of a large portion of Fang troops and is leading them in a coordinated and efficient manner.

"I concur with the General on this" the lieutenant began "If he's already amassed an army this could present a serious threat to the city, combined with the Fang's determination and Deimos' ONI training regime, we need to hit him hard and fast."

The headmaster turns to his close friend "I take it you have things in motion?"

"I've ordered the _Visitant_ set course to the village and await at a safe distance, I'm also bringing in the 32nd Ranger Battalion to assist in taking the village and securing Deimos if possible- eliminating him if necessary."

"You're going to need all the help you can get General" Sandra adds "Farley and I can hold our own in a heavy firefight."

Ironwood nods in agreeance "Very well, I suggest you get geared up and if you need anything from us. Just ask."

"Will do."

However before the SPARTAN could leave to make preparations, Ozpin states "I'll have teams RWBY and JNPR ready for departure, working together they can make quick work in capturing Deimos."

The general felt reluctant but nonetheless he allows it "Alright, I'll have bullheads ready to transport the teams and the SPARTANs, speaking of which- Lieutenant Sandra I'm granting you temporary command of Skybreaker Platoon. Use them as you see fit."

"Thank you Sir."

Ozpin then turns to Sandra "Remember, if we fail again this time there may not be another chance. I expect you'll do your best."

"Or die trying . . ." she assures him, without another word she leaves the office.

[3:08 PM, air docks]

"Everyone ready!?" Sandra barks out to the hunters and huntresses as they prepare to board their respective transports.

Ruby who stood along with her team yells "We're ready!"

Jaune adds to that with his own group "Ready when you are!"

The SPARTAN turns to her colleague, who carried an Atlesian designed, belt-fed, squad automatic weapon featuring a box magazine attached to the bottom side loaded with high-velocity arc dust ammunition designed to detonate in an electrical shock upon impact, retractable stock, holographic sights, a sturdy foregrip, and a ported barrel to expense excess heat over continuous fire.

"Farley sound off" she orders.

The mute SPARTAN only gave an animalistic hiss complemented with a nod of readiness, prompting his commanding officer to move on "Alright, Raptor-3 you're with RWBY, I'll fly in with JNPR. This is going to be a heavy weight fight everyone, we have to see the big picture on this op but the moment we find Deimos, we take him down hard together! We do our job and keep focused, we'll all come back home in one piece."

In response the members of RWBY and JNPR gave a chorus of cheerful cries, feeling that today will be the day they will end it all by tonight. Some felt the anticipation and excitement for the coming battle while others remained silent and focused on the task at hand.

"Alright everyone!" Sandra calls out one last time "Fall out!"

 **Sorry for the long waits in between chapters. As always leave your thoughts and comments. Thank you.**


	24. Relics of the Great War

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 23**

 **"** **Relics of the Great War"**

[June 13th, 2558]

[Lost Forests, Kingdom of Vale, 32nd Ranger Battalion]

[3:56 PM]

She couldn't believe this was happening. Ruby couldn't stop watching in awe from her Bullhead dropship as nearly thirty seven other Bullhead and Atlesian gunships fly side by side towards their intended destination in formation, each craft carried its own payload of foot soldiers armed and ready for combat. This would be her first time to ever be involved in a large scale military operation, the first time for her team and that of JNPR in fact. She could feel the rising anticipation for the coming fight swell up inside her, almost getting to the point where she could feel her heart race, but she also could feel the nervous anxiety that hid deep within. It was difficult to understand how she should feel in a situation such as this.

She looks away from the astonishing view of ships and looks inside her own transport, finding Yang and Weiss sitting across from her and Blake sitting next to her, standing by the other side looking out the open door was Farley who came armed with an Atlesian standard-issue rifle, he paid the huntresses no attention as he too watched the view from his side. Six other soldiers from Skybreaker Platoon also accompanied them with the rest in another dropship staying in tight formation with them. The members of Team JNPR and SPARTAN Sandra were flying in another transport that wasn't too far behind.

Over the intercom the pilot reports _"_ _We'll be at the LZ in five minutes!"_

None of the girls or the super soldier made a sound, instead they continue to watch the ships fly alongside them and the trees passing underneath them.

It was then however when a hologram of General Ironwood appeared standing in the middle of them, completely grabbing everyone's attention who turned to face him. The hologram of the General had appeared in every transport grabbing the attention of other soldiers.

At this point James was addressing to the entire task force _"_ _Alright everyone listen up, this is a high-priority, high risk situation that needs to be handled immediately. You've all been through the briefing but I'm going over it one last time; Enemy of the State and terrorist Deimos has been spotted in the Argonne Ruins within the Lost Forests and is calling us out. He is currently being supported by a large cell of White Fang insurgents, the exact number of how many hostiles we'll be facing is unknown, but it stands to reason they will be fortifying the town of Argonne itself in order to mount up any chance against the Atlesian Military. The plan goes as follows; Two companies will break off from the main group and circle around the ruins to land and begin deploying mortar batteries for fire support, the rest will land in the remaining surrounding areas and begin their attack on the ruins utilizing the forests for cover. The cruiser, Visitant, will also be present to offer fire support and aerial surveillance, she will also provide necessary reinforcements should the need arises. However she is currently redeploying from her previous assignments and will not arrive for another half hour so you will have to do without for the time being. I don't need to remind you that our target is armed and extremely dangerous, do not engage him alone, wait for backup and use extreme caution. He is well trained, well equipped, and highly unpredictable so be prepared for anything. Your commanding officers will have your individual tasks, they will brief you on them now. May the Maidens bring luck to everyone, General Ironwood out."_

The greenish hologram fades away from view, the girls glanced at one another knowing that this may finally be the end to everything, one way or another.

 _"_ _We have visual on the village now, ETA three minutes!"_ the pilot barked _"_ _Prepare to disembark!"_

As ordered, the huntresses stood up from their seats and grabbed hold of the handle bars above them. This was the moment when Ruby decided to get a better look at the soldiers' new combat armor, much resembling the type of military body armor seen in Vale, this variant was heavier and provided better protection. An armored rebreather was attached to the user's helmet which now protected his mouth from ballistics fire and potential chemical threats, a lower abdominal plate was installed to complement the chest piece which better concealed the black bodysuit underneath and protect the wearer's lower torso and back from enemy fire, and finally durable protective armor was placed around the soldier's arms, thighs, and legs covering them to lessen the chance of a crippling gunshot wound that may put the soldier out of action. All of this, while somewhat heavier than their standard variant, offered a greater deal of protection, this type was said to be only issued to units that are assigned to engage the White Fang who utilizes firearms and explosives unlike the creatures of Grimm.

The pilot spoke again, this time sounding a lot more concerned _"_ _Hey wait a minute . . . I'm seeing something in the village, I can't tell what it-"_

Without warning a single lance of orange bright light skips through the open air and catches a Bullhead transport by its port turbine, violently setting it ablaze and sending the transport falling out of the sky trailing thick black smoke in its wake.

 _"_ _Contact! Contact! Incoming fire! We lost Charon 2-3!"_

Seconds later, a second blast fires, this time it strikes a gunship directly in the cockpit with the beam piercing through and detonating within setting the entire craft to explode into a smoldering fireball as it fell out of the sky.

 _"_ _Viper's hit! We're taking fire!"_

In a manner of moments the entire Atlesian com-net lights up with sudden outbursts of voices speaking to one another, Ruby and her team could hear it all through the ear pieces they had been given shortly after taking off from Beacon.

 _"_ _Where did those shots come from!?"_

 _"_ _Break formation! We can't have them take us out all at once!"_

 _"_ _Missile! Missile! Evade!"_

 _"_ _I got Triple AAA coming from the tree lines, we're taking heavy fire!"_

 _"_ _GAH! I'm hit, we're going down!"_

In moments the entire battalion was facing heavy anti-aircraft fire consisting of high-velocity armor-piercing rounds, high explosive flak, and surface-to-air missiles. All of these were coming from the surrounding areas rather than the village itself, and they were swatting the dropships out of the air like flies.

Despite this, RWBY's pilot remained calm and continues _"_ _Closing blast doors."_

As he said those words, the dropship's bay doors slid and closed shutting everyone safely inside. The interior was sentenced to darkness until a small red ambient light came on from the ceiling, the troopers then went to work.

"Weapons check" one spoke, Sergeant Venice, his voice sounded synthetic through the rebreather.

"Retch your comms went static" another stated.

The man called Retch quickly slapped the side of his helmet twice before announcing "Got it."

A fourth man notices the light and commands "Red light, standby."

Farley gave a low hiss as he worked the charging bolt on his weapon while the girls readied their weapons in preparation for the coming fight. The transport rocked side to side as it tried to avoid incoming fire but there would be an occasional jolt of movement whenever an explosion detonates too close, releasing high velocity shrapnel in every direction.

 _"_ _This flak is heavy! I can't see where it's coming from!"_ a distant transport pilot exclaims.

 _"_ _Just stay the course and proceed to the designated LZ!"_

 _"_ _They're all over the LZ! We need a new zone!"_

 _"_ _Damn! Hanson just took a hit, he's going down!"_

Weiss couldn't help but peer through the narrow slit window of the door and find that the battalion was under constant heavy fire, several ships were trailing smoke due to damage while fewer others were blown out of the sky.

 _"_ _Ninety meters to target"_ the pilot spoke with calm _"_ _We're taking fire."_

Schnee could see bursts of high caliber rounds zip across intending to hit their transport but the only damage suffered so far were grazes and small punctures, that was until she witnesses an orange beam of light lash out and tear right through the Bullhead's port engine block effectively destroying it and engulfing it in flames. The craft now more violently with everyone hanging on tightly to their handles as the pilot attempted to keep them in the air but it was a losing fight, they were going to crash.

 _"_ _This is Charlie 1-6, we've been hit! Losing Altitude!"_ the pilot yelled, now clearly alarmed by what is happening.

The ship continues to fall from the sky but fortunately for the pilot's skill the craft was falling in a somewhat controlled guide. However due to the lack of any safe areas to land he has no other option but to guide the doomed craft towards the town itself.

 _"_ _Forty meters to impact!"_

"Everyone, hang on to something!" a trooper yells.

 _"_ _Brace for impact!"_

At this point Farley had already pulled Blake, Yang, and Weiss towards him but failed to reach for Ruby in time. The ship smashes into the cobblestone ground with such force it threw just about everyone across the room like ragdolls, the SPARTAN and huntresses were flung one direction with Farley acting as a cushion for the girls, Ruby however was thrown into a trooper's chest who fell back hitting his head against the walls. The other troopers were thrown about as well with one being flung against the ceiling with his back hitting against it, the others were slammed into the floors and walls with seemingly enough force to render them unconscious.

The Bullhead came to a screeching halt after making a twenty five meter long trench from the point of impact in the ground and finally came to a stop in the middle of the town's empty square.

One by one the occupants inside slowly got up with aches and moans from the hard landing, one of the troopers called out "Status!" with an aching tone.

Another trooper stammers to his feet and pulls open the door that leads into the cockpit, he climbs in and moments later he calls back "Pilot's dead!"

A third reports "We lost Saxton and Mitch too."

"Damn" Venice muttered "Recover the tags and check your gear, we leave in sixty."

Farley groaned as he tried to sit up, fortunately the girls he managed to hold onto were relatively alright with only bruises and cuts being the only injury they suffered. Ruby lied semi-consciously on top of a now dead Saxton who died after his head was rammed into the side doors and broke his spine, Rose herself came back to and ached as she tried to get herself back up.

However when she looks down at the soldier beneath her she attempted to wake him up "Hey c'mon we got to go. Hey are you alright?"

However Venice steps over and solemnly states "Saxton's gone. I'm sorry.

After hearing that she relents and did her best to hold a tear back, she sat there silently mourning the lives lost thus far and eventually she stands to with the others ready to move. Farley steps over to the starboard door and grabs hold of the handle bar, then with all his might he pulls the hatch open with much resistance but he succeeds in the end and opens the door allowing the others to pour out onto the town square.

The square was empty, quiet, and almost untouched by man for decades, several multi-story buildings surrounded the area which offered multiple choices for a sniper to lay and wait. But much to their surprise there was no sign of the White Fang, nobody was even there to open fire, it was empty.

Without second thought Venice orders "I want flares set around the plaza now! Let the transports know where they're heading!"

"Yes Sir!" one of the men responded.

The sergeant then got onto comms and spreads the word "All craft abandon your pre-designated LZ, redirect course to the village immediately we're marking the safe zones with green smoke."

A response came shortly after _"_ _Copy that! Changing course bearing two-five-niner."_

A chorus of other responses followed suit with a majority of ships changing course towards the village, Venice then glances around to find his remaining three men throwing flare sticks around the square, each emitting a cloud of green smoke into the air.

The first transport arrived minutes later, quickly coming down and now hovering just feet off the ground, twelve soldiers quickly disembarked and moved to further secure the area. Soon more dropships began to arrive to unload their cargo, whether it was equipment or personnel, and then lift off to return to safety. Eventually the transports ferrying JNPR and the rest of Skybreaker platoon arrived and dropped its passengers off.

Once everyone met up Jaune expressed concern "We heard your ship got hit, everyone alright?"

"We're fine Jaune" Ruby reassured him "Are you all alright?"

"We didn't get hit" Pyrrha answered.

Sandra walked up, her M395 DMR in hand, and reports "We've already lost nine transports to enemy fire, reports suggests the White Fang have positions placed in the forests surrounding the village."

"So what're we waiting for?" Yang exclaimed readying her shotgun gauntlets "Let's go get 'em!"

"No not yet" the lieutenant protests "If the White Fang was waiting for us we need to know what we're going up against. Head to the south side and start reconnaissance runs, do not openly engage the enemy until your assignment is completed. Team JNPR will make their way to the north and do the same. We'll have mortar crews ready to provide support if you need it."

Weiss asks "What're you going to do?"

"I'll stay here and help Colonel Makdai coordinate the operation. The dropships will need a safe place to land and the _Visitant_ needs to be notified before it gets caught in the crossfire as well. Farley will be with you in case you need him."

Without further questions Ruby waves her hands signaling her teammates "Let's go team!" prompting the others and Farley to follow her.

Jaune made a single motion with his hand and gestured his team to follow him as well.

Now alone, Sandra silently taps into her comms and quietly spoke "Major do you hear me? I hope you know what's going on."

For a moment there was silence and eventually nothing came, prompting her to let out a sigh knowing she and Farley are still alone in this. If only, she hopes, they could receive some sort of response…

[4:18 PM, South Argonne Ruins]

"You see anything yet?" Yang asked, hunched behind a stone wall of a blown out building beyond recognition.

The SPARTAN, currently peering his head over a hole in the wall, slowly shakes his head in response.

Both Xiao Long and Farley remained hidden behind the wall near the edge of town, looking out towards the tree line on the far side of an open field that surrounded the town itself. Despite the advanced optical advantages his Mjolnir helmet provides, there was little he could see, however he was able to make out two hastily concealed pillboxes with small subtle movements noticed within. It was a no brainer that they either housed a mounted heavy machine gun or an anti-tank weapon of sorts.

He quickly marks the emplacements' coordinates on his HUD and steps away from the wall and comes near another overlooking a small street that leads further into town, across the street inside a devastated house was Ruby, Weiss, and Blake all waiting for the go ahead to move on. Yang catches up and waits for the SPARTAN's move. He then begins to count down with his fingers starting from three. Two. One.

Then in a sudden burst of motion, both the blonde huntress and titanium clad soldier breaks into a sprint across the street with the latter using himself as a shield the moment gunfire erupted from the pillboxes. Heavy amounts of high-caliber rounds rained down on the streets with multiple projectiles striking against the SPARTAN's energy shielding that was being depleted at an alarming rate. Fortunately in no time the two passed the street and dove for cover with their teammates, almost immediately after that the gunfire silenced.

Long glanced back at the bullet riddled road behind them, then turns back and states "That wasn't too hard."

Before too long they begin to hear the running footsteps of an approaching platoon of Atlesian troops which immediate gunfire follows up as the troopers ducked for cover in the building and return fire. The field between the town and forests quickly became a no-man's land blanketed in a hailstorm of dust and steel.

An Atlesian Sergeant sprints over to RWBY's position, keeping his head down to avoid fire, and kneels down next to them speaks to Farley with a raised voice to be heard over the gunfire "We received those positions you marked SPARTAN, we'll take it from here! Start making your way east!"

It was at that point the group immediately notices a small red dot climbing up the soldier's body, it slowly etched its way until it finally stops at his chest. The sergeant catches it as well, placing his hand over the dot only for it to appear in his palm.

Instinct took over the man's mind, forcing him to yell "SNIPER!"

In an instant the man's body was shredded by a single piercing bolt of bright orange pulsating light, the light tore through the armor and flesh resulting in the sergeant to screech out in agony as his body slowly disintegrated right before RWBY's very eyes. Piece by piece the soldier faded away in a flurry of glowing embers before it too fades into dust, in seconds, the sergeant was wiped from existence.

". . . W-wha. . ." a now traumatized Ruby stuttered, trying to make sense of what just happened.

But rather stand there and gaze upon the remains, Farley immediately grabs the girls and rushes them to better cover before another shot could be fired.

"How could've he just- how!?" Weiss yells.

Blake however tried not to be distracted and focus on a more important matter "Did anyone see where that came from?"

Farley was focused on the same dilemma, carefully looking through a hole in the walls to search the rooftops and upper story windows, but none presented a figure nor glare of a scope.

Without another moment of hesitation Farley urges the girls to keep moving, not wanting to become the sniper's next target and be vaporized.

As the group got up to move Ruby reached for one of her belt pockets and pulls out a small handheld communicator, with a press of a switch she contacts Sandra "Sandra are you there?"

In little time the SPARTAN lieutenant responded, she could hear the alarm in the huntress's voice _"_ _I'm receiving you Ruby, what's happening?"_

"We're at the south side, there's a sniper here and he killed the sergeant."

 _"_ _Do you have the position of the sniper?"_

"No, but it came from inside the town."

 _"_ _Damn . . . ok check the wound, try and figure out where the shot came from."_

"We can't . . ."

 _"_ _Why not?"_

"The body just disappeared . . . I don't know how but his body just turned to ashes . . ."

 _"_ _Ashes? Your kind has weapons capable of disintegration?"_

"No, we've never seen anything like this . . ."

There was a moment of silence, minus the distant gunfire and screaming of men, then after some time of thinking Sandra came to a conclusion _"_ _Alright, the Colonel is sending out squads to search every standing building. For now just focus on the task at hand, continue scouting the enemy positions and link up with JNPR at the east side of town."_

Ruby wasn't sure if there was any other way of proceeding but after witnessing the sergeant's terrible demise she had a small gut feeling, then she acted on it "No, we'll find the sniper."

 _"_ _Stick to the plan Ruby"_ Sandra calmly protested _"_ _we need those gun positions scouted out."_

Knowing Ruby wasn't going to back down from this Blake steps in, tapping her ear piece, "The Rangers can scout out the positions faster than we can and you need those men on the front. We'll find the sniper for you."

There was another pause of silence, then they heard a low agitated groan come from the SPARTAN _"_ _Fine, find that sniper and take him down. We can't have him picking us off one by one like this. We'll divert the troops to their designated zones and plan a counterattack."_

Shortly after Sandra signs off, the team quickly decided to develop the plan, Ruby started off bluntly "Ok we find the sniper and we hit him hard!"

"First we need to find him and not get shot in the meantime" Belladonna advises.

"Right, we just need to find him . . ." Rose mutters.

For a moment her eyes traveled off in various directions, glancing at the crackled walls of the home they were in, then looking outside to see the men using cover and fighting the gun emplacements, then they came to a stop on Farley. She figured that the SPARTAN surely may have had experience in this sort of matter before, in moments he caught on with her glare and proceeded to carefully make his way towards a shattered window that faced inwards towards the town center. Cautiously looking outside he began examining the buildings themselves, deciphering which structure would prove most beneficial for a sniper. Accounting for distance, height, positioning, and concealment he found that the nearby structures were not quite suitable for a sniper at close range. He extends his view further out and only one building caught his attention, a lone church tower lying near the east side of town but well within to cover all fronts with precision fire. Any man trained with a rifle would be able to do damage on any front.

He motions for the girls to approach him and when they did he points out the tower in the distance, suggesting the sniper is there.

"Church tower . . . of course" Yang remarks lamely

"It makes sense" Belladonna logically notes "Anyone will have a good view of the battle up there."

Ruby then states firmly "Then that's where we're gonna start Team."

"How are we going to get there without being vaporized?" an unnerving Schnee queried.

Farley carefully peeks through the hole and spots their solution, a narrow alleyway just across the street in between two cratered homes. The buildings would offer greater protection than the more open streets, thus concealing themselves from the sniper's view.

In a single motion Troy points out the alleyway and carefully begins to move alongside the walls towards a much larger crater that inhabited the home they were in.

This of course caught the girls' curiosity with Yang Xiao Long wondering "Where's he going?" and in response the others merely shrugged their shoulders in confusion.

The soldier motions his hand to them to follow him as he prepares to make his twenty foot dash across the street. The girls acknowledges this and moves next to him, all ready to sprint for the other side. He raises his left hand and extends his fingers, then begins to countdown. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

In an instant the SPARTAN and huntresses breaks into mad dash for the alley, not letting up one moment of it to slow down or catch their breath. They effortlessly cross the street with Farley slamming his back against the side of the houses and the girls staying close, then much to their fear they witness the small red dot return to their position. They watch the dot steadily move across the war-torn walls of the house they were previously in, slowly scanning for a target to strike down like a hammer from God. Eventually the dot disappears, signifying that the sniper has turned his attention away to other places.

"Um . . . too close" Weiss mentions, feeling the relief momentarily sweep over herself.

"That was just the first street" Blake painstakingly adds "We're not done yet."

Without another moment to wait, Farley begins to move onwards heading down through the alley at a steady pace. Then one by one the girls began to follow him, beginning their slow and arduous trek to the tower in the midst of a warzone.

[4:31 PM, Argonne Ruins, near the tower]

Several streets have been passed, some took longer to pass than others, and finally the team was closing in on the tower. For some time the members watched the tower attentively and noticed several bolts of light being shot from the bell room at the top to other parts of town, whoever the sniper was, he was there.

They were only two streets away from the tower now and as of now they were hidden in cover waiting for the opportunity to pass without being spotted. Farley patiently waited at the corner of the alley, carefully watching for signs of movement from the tower. The girls sat further in, waiting for the soldier's signal to move.

"So what's the plan when we get there?" Blake questioned as she glared at the approximate fifty foot stone tower.

"It's pretty obvious don't you think?" Yang begins "We go up there and kick butt!" she exclaims pounding her two fists together.

Weiss then intrudes "Easier said than done Yang, we still don't know what or who we're going up against."

Yang began to make a retort to that, but Ruby eventually pulled away from the conversation and joined the SPARTAN at the mouth of the alleyway. His armored back was pressed up against the brick wall and his rifle was held in alert status, ready to immediately engage any threat that should present itself to them.

"When are we going to move Farley?" young Rose asks.

Almost as if by coincidence, an Atlesian gunship flies overhead preparing to make its attack run on the White Fang forces. But before it could spin up its dual heavy gatling cannons or acquire a lock-on with its onboard missiles, the craft's port engine thruster was completely obliterated with a single pulse of orange light originating from the tower itself. With one of its two primary engines gone, the gunship quickly loses control and spirals out of the air in a column of smoke, those close would hear the engine failing and the ship coming down towards a destructive end.

In the midst of the low roaring boom that occurred, rose a new sound that began to take hold of Farley's attention, steadily, low, and heavily mechanical, he had little hesitation when he turned his attention back to the streets and found a massive twin-tracked vehicle crawling its way through the streets from the town square, it was also of note that it was being escorted by three squads of Atlesian troopers. The vehicle itself quickly resembled the Mark V British Landship that existed six centuries ago, wide caterpillar tracks that extends the entire length of the vehicle, roughly twenty nine feet long unlike the British twenty six foot long tank. The reinforced dasutnium alloy armor, a material proven to be much stronger than hardened steel but has not yet proven its worth compared to titanium, has been wielded together artistically by machine which grants the vehicle better durability than most other ground-based vehicles with the exception of the newer Paladin-290 mech. The armament consisted of five 12.3mm heavy machine guns, two mounted on the sides and the fifth placed in the rear, and for larger targets were three 62mm dual-purpose high velocity cannons, again two mounted on the sides facing forward and the third set in the front nose plate with a coaxial 15mm auto cannon. Despite the heavy armor and armament the tank was moving rather well under its own weight though the foot soldiers were able to keep up with a jog.

Ruby's eyes became fixated on the tank and its impressive features "An Artemis Crawler? I've never seen one before . . . they say those were used during the Great War."

The convoy passes on with no interruptions or delays and afterwards Farley signals the others to ready themselves, moments later the Team makes another quick dash across the street and into one final alley but rather stopping they sped up, now going into a full sprint without a thought of slowing down. They rushed through the alley and began running across the final street to the tower, Farley slaps his rifle onto his back and revs up his thrusters. In moments he comes within feet of the stone wall and launches himself up to the wall where he then begins to rapidly climb the wall with the assistance of his suit, closely following him from behind Weiss readies her semblance and concentrates her power into creating a glyph at the foot of the tower where she then steps onto and launch herself towards the tower, Blake takes the glyph as well and sends herself flying to the top. Yang activates her dual gauntlets and fires both of them simultaneously into the ground, the back blast propels her into the air, and finally Ruby pulls out her rifle and configures it into full scythe mode before she aims the barrel downwards and fires letting the immense recoil of _Crescent Rose_ lift her towards her destination alongside the others.

In no time team made their way to the top, Weiss and Blake reached the top first with Yang coming up third, Ruby fourth, and Farley who came last. And with no effort they spot the sniper peering through the scope of a disproportionally large silver rifle that featured angular designs, and orange detail lighting. However despite this, their eyes locked firmly on the figure standing before them, Deimos.

The rogue SPARTAN notices them at the corner of his eye and turns from his view of the battlefield to them, revealing his new wolf-like pattern he had painted on the forehead of his helmet " **Glad you could finally come. . .** " he notes.

"We just had to follow the light, pun intended." Yang quips only to receive a low agitated groan from the sociopath.

He lowers his rifle and waves his hand to the raging war all around them " **I have to admit I'm quite proud that you came, I would've done a better job had I known you were coming.** "

"It's not all that impressive Deimos" Weiss remarks.

" **Unlike you? Atlas promises the world that they can offer safety and security, the belief of never having to fight a war with the use of machines to keep the peace. The people of Remnant will sooner or later learn the existence of life beyond this world, and when they do what do you think will happen?** "

Schnee stopped and contemplated on that then she answered "They'll panic . . ."

" **World order will collapse, every kingdom for themselves and Atlas will not be able to keep stability throughout the planet. It was the same for us when the Covenant began to burn our worlds.** "

Ruby slowly reached for her one of her ammo pouches, steadily producing the armor restraint she was given and readies it for use, but Deimos catches sight of it and asks " **So despite everything I have done, you still intend to bring me in rather than killing me? The UEG would have me executed . . .** "

"You're still going to answer for your crimes" Belladonna states "One way or the other you're not getting out of this."

" **Perhaps . . .** " he openly agrees " **But until then I'm not going anywhere.** "

Yang etches her left foot forward, a clear sign that she was itching for a fight, "We're gonna take you down Deimos! You can count on it!"

The rogue's eyes narrows on the blonde huntress " **I look forward to it . . .** "

In a blink of an eye, Deimos brings his rifle to bear and fires sending a stream of orange hardlight jetting out towards the team. The group ducks beneath the beam before they promptly engage the target, Blake began by taking aim with her handgun and open fire sending small caliber dust projectiles slamming against Deimos' energy shielding which simply shrugged it off. Yang steps in by launching herself forward with her right fist in full swing, while Deimos had covered his head from Blake's attack she was allowed a clean hit to his chest with enough force to send him reeling back several steps, depleting the rest of his shields, but he was able to quickly recover and take aim again, this time on Farley who had drawn his own.

The ONI operative manages to squeeze out several rounds before rolling out of the way when the sociopath fired. Afterwards Deimos' weapon broke apart and ejected a small cylindrical object prompting the user to insert a new one into the receiver. But before he could bring up the weapon to his shoulder Weiss seized the opportunity to lunge at him with her rapier ready for the strike and once she came within range she sends her blade forth letting it clash with the edge of his rifle sending out sparks in every direction. Deimos however shoves Schnee away and quickly draws his magnum into his left hand training it on her chest, he pulls the trigger but Yang intervenes yet again slamming her right fist against the side of his head which jerked his gun aside when it fired sending the bullet into the wooden floor. In response the soldier readies his right arm and swings the long silver rifle like a club letting it crash into Long's body and knock her aside. Blake moves in with her katana ready, closes in and makes a clean cut across Deimos' chest, though the blade did little to carve deep into the titanium alloy, and then brings her pistol up to his head at point blank range. Her finger started to squeeze on the trigger but he quickly grabs her forearm and yank her down before launching his left knee into her chest thus knocking the air out of her lungs for the moment.

With Blake now temporarily incapacitated, Ruby finally steps in with her scythe ready for action. However when she darts in and brings her blade over her head Deimos spots her and takes aim with his rifle, only for the rifle to be thrown off target when Weiss threw herself against him in a shoulder barge. He then grabs young Schnee by her head, his large gloved hand covered her face, and with all his might throwing her out of the tower without second thought. However when he came to face Ruby she was already on top of him with her scythe in full motion, with split-second reflexes he threw up his rifle above him and blocked Rose's blade stopping it almost immediately.

Rose was caught off guard by realizing how surprisingly durable the rifle was "What the!?"

But before she could process this discovery he shoves her away and takes aim one last time, the red reticle dot finds its place on her chest, but much to his aggravation and deprivation of a kill Farley tackles the rogue against the side railing. Deimos attempted to hold his ground but the sudden force of Troy's body made the two topple over the railing and fall to the ground below. The two fought briefly with fists thrown and shots fired but neither could land the killing blow, eventually the two slammed into the streets with crackling effects shattering the ground beneath them. Afterwards Deimos begins to stand up and find Weiss ready and Farley slowly getting back up as well from his fall.

In the tower, Ruby gets Blake and Yang up on their feet "Guys c'mon!" she yells.

"Ugh I hear you" Belladonna groans as she watched Yang silently get up and leap over the railing to the ground below.

Eventually Yang, Ruby, and Blake fell and landed on the ground close to their comrades, thus outnumbering Deimos one to five once again. The sociopath calmly places his rifle onto his back and summons a ball of flame in his right hand, forcing his opponents to steel themselves for round two, but instead of engaging he sends the orb into the ground between them causing a minor explosion that threw up dirt and smoke into the air. With the team blinded he turns on his heels and runs for the east side of town.

"Don't let him get away!" Yang yells as she charges through the smoke and give chase, the others quickly followed suit with each running to the best of their limits.

They could see the runaway just ahead of them, swiftly reaching the outer part of town at a steady pace. Ahead was a squad of troopers who had their attention set to the entrenched White Fang soldiers but regardless Deimos readies his rifle and fires off two rapid bolts each finding their mark on two soldiers who then disintegrated right before everyone's eyes.

"Contact! Right behind us, engage!" a trooper called after witnessing his comrade suffer a terrible fate.

The rest of the squad turned and opened fire on the soldier that quickly charged through them, knocking two men aside while trampling over a third, and rushes out into the open field between the town and the forests effortlessly dodging and weaving through the crossfire hailstorm of bullets while leaping over certain spots in the field.

The pursuers continued with the plan but once they arrived at the edge of town they were quickly called to "RWBY over here!"

The team came to a halt and glanced over at a nearby home that had been recently shelled, finding SPARTAN Sandra and Colonel Makdai taking cover behind a stone wall with the rest of Skybreaker. A spray of stray rounds from the tree line zips over the team's head forcing them to run and take cover along with the others.

Sandra was in the process of reloading her rifle when she asked "Deimos was the sniper I'm assuming?"

Ruby nodded "Yeah, and he just ran across the field. We're going after him."

"The hell you're not, we lost a squad trying to cross that field. It's layered with anti-personnel mines."

"Then what're we going to do?" Yang questioned as she watched Farley take up position at the wall and return fire.

"Makdai has two crawlers making their way here, they'll clear the mines and set a path for the infantry."

"That's going to take too long!" Ruby bellowed "We need to go after him now!"

"I don't know what to tell you Ruby, we can't cross that field without sustaining any more casualties. We need to—" she was quickly cut off, becoming eerily silent.

"What? What is it?" Rose asks, now concerned.

But Sandra began talking, seemingly to another person "Sir? Major we're getting torn apart down here we need orbital fire sup- No sir I- What do you mean support has arrived? Since when!?"

"Sandra! What's going on!?" Weiss now asks.

"Yes Sir understood, we'll mark the zone with green smoke east of town, standby."

The SPARTAN then turns her attention to Makdai "Colonel I need flares in the intersection here!" her finger pointed out to the four way intersection that sat right outside of the home they were in "Tell the men to clear out!"

The colonel acknowledges without question and relays the order "Maxon, Sam! Set flares at that intersection! Earl, tell the men to clear out and make room!"

"Sir Yes Sir!" the men called back before heading out to complete their assignments.

"Sandra!" Ruby bursts "What is going on!?"

"UNSC Reinforcements have arrived, we got full support from command" she replied with overwhelming relief.

"What kind of reinforcements?" Blake had to ask.

But in the distance they could hear the low rumble of something massive approaching, then a voice from a nearby trooper calls out "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!"

This prompted the team to venture outside to look around, nothing appeared noteworthy until they noticed a small portion of the gunfire had ceased on both sides and the men were looking up in shock and awe at something. Following the glare the girls looks up to find a massive four hundred and eighty nine meter long dark vessel hanging just a kilometer above the ground slowly gliding across the sky. The ship easily dwarfed any craft anyone on Remnant has ever seen, even the mighty Atlesian capital cruiser, with two blocky protrusions extending out from either side of the mid-section each armed with twin gun turret mounts of fair size, the rear was inhabited by two heavily armored struts that each housed an array of engines and a single massive hangar bay, and finally situated in the front were two pronged structures that left a gap in the middle.

"WHAT IS THAT?!" Ruby yelled in shock.

Sandra had joined them and looked up "UNSC frigate! Charon class!"

Shortly after another frigate of the same class appears from the high heavens, but in this case the group noticed the second frigate had launched six small egg-shaped objects from what appears to be a ventral mounted pod bay. The pods raced towards the ground at terminal velocity until a metallic drag chute shoots out from the main body and slows the pods' descent. In manner of seconds the intersection has been cleared and marked with several green flares that guided the projectiles onto target, and finally the pods came to a swift and violent crash impacting the ground with fierce force.

The team silently watched as each pod remained idle, then one by one the hatches of each pod shoots out and allowed six different heavily armed and armored figures to step out. The first featured an olive drab color and exhibited expert experience and physical prowess, wielding a small automatic rifle that seemed standard issue. Following suit were two figures sporting a light blue scheme however one carried a M395 rifle much like Sandra's and the other appeared to be holding a pump-action shotgun, a fourth climbs out with a sand colored suit and wielded what Ruby recognized as a SRS 99-Series 5 Anti-Materiel rifle. The fifth and six however came in ONI jet black armor, one who sported features to Sandra and Farley and armed with yet another DMR, and the other seemed to be outfitted with a much more simplified version of the Mjolnir armor and came equipped with another shotgun but of different variation.

The green figure threw its right hand up in a fist and with a stoic and calm voice he orders "Team on me!"

As ordered the other five members formed up on the leading soldier, as they did so they came under fire from the White Fang positions but their shielding began to shrug off the incoming fire as if it was nothing to them.

"I don't believe it . . ." Sandra mutters beneath her breath.

Yang hears her voice and asks "What? Who're they?"

However after a very quick analysis of the situation the supposedly Spartan team leader gave his next order to the men under his command "Hostiles along the tree line Blue Team, weapons free."

 **Please leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.**


	25. Task Force Excelsior

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 24**

 **"** **Task Force Excelsior"**

[June 13th, 2558]

[Outskirts of abandoned village, Argonne Forests, Kingdom of Vale]

[5:02 PM]

"Blue-Three, target seventy five meters out at one o'clock" the green figure commanded, his voice remained unmoved or even unchanged in the heat of battle.

The male light blue figure responded diligently "On target, engaging!" before proceeding to aim down his rifle's sights and open fire sending three rounds down range where they made their mark "Kill confirmed!"

The other blue soldier, taking a feminine shape, took a direct hit to her shields from a dust projectile and reports "Taking fire, shields down to eighty-three percent!"

With no words, the team leader moves his right hand signaling the targeted subordinate to move for a blown house to their right, currently serving as a firing position for several Atlesian troopers, Colonel Makdai, and the members of Teams RWBY and JNPR. As if they were reading each other's minds, the entirety of the six man team began moving its way to the designated house together as a whole unit, several members took the moment to move before assuming a firing position while the others ceased firing and moved as well in leap frog style. In no time the team reaches the house and takes cover behind the battered walls, most of the soldiers remained on high alert looking out through the windows and blown out holes, while the green figure stepped over to join the other fighters.

Sandra quickly stood up from her spot and greeted the newcomer "Sir" she begins "I didn't think Blue Team would be here . . ."

But disregarding that comment, the man asks "What's the situation Lieutenant?"

With that, she figured it was best to get to the point "HVT made a run across the fields and took cover in the trees with the rest of the hostiles. Field's layered with landmines and under constant machinegun fire from those pillboxes, Raptor-3 and I can make it if we go across but no one else will."

The hunters and huntresses of RWBY and JNPR continued to gaze at the new arrivals; Jaune whispered "Who're those guys?"

But no one answered him; instead they continued to listen in on the conversation between the two regarding the state of the battle and possible plans that could be done to see the end of the engagement. Then to their surprise the green figure turned his helmeted head towards them, examining each huntress and hunter until his body language shifted from calm and collected to something towards uncertainty.

"What're you children doing in a combat zone?" the man asked.

"Children!?" Ruby snaps then retorts with confidence "For your information, I'm fifteen!" only to receive an elbow to her side from a scornful Weiss.

Jaune gains the courage to stand up from his spot and take a step towards the man "With all due respect, we can take care of ourselves."

The man began to thoroughly examine Arc, already displeased with the current weapons the hunter was armed with but noted the exceptional physical build he possessed.

Sandra states firmly "Sir, they've proven themselves to be capable fighters. They can help us."

Then Colonel Makdai adds in agreement "These are the best fighters you'll ever find here, I'd trust them with my life and that of my men."

With several people favoring the hunters' usefulness, the team leader takes it under advisement and then orders "All teams, fall in."

The other members of Blue Team withdrew from their positions and gathered around their team leader, Sandra and now Farley included. Sandra and the green man then turned their eyes to RWBY and JNPR who stood by feeling excluded from the SPARTAN gathering.

He then adds "You too."

"Us?" Blake questions.

The male blue figure answers, his voice was low and firm with authority and strength "You said you're capable fighters so that includes you too."

The response prompted the others to finally step forward and join the super soldiers, then came the introductions as the green figure points out each member "This is Kelly, Blue-Two, Fred and Linda, Three and Four."

Then he turns to the two jet black figures, one seemed feminine while the other donned an unusual set of armor "That's Rose and Raphael, Blue-Five and Six."

Ruby then inquired "And who're you?"

"Master Chief Petty Officer 117, Master Chief or Chief will do for now."

"Wait! You're the Master Chief!?" the young huntress gasped "You're the one who saved Sandra then! They said you're the very best!"

Now ignoring young Rose's rant, 117 turned to Colonel Makdai "Do you have a plan of action Colonel?"

The Colonel cleared his throat and answered "I've ordered two of our crawlers to make their way here and prepare to lead an assault on the enemy positions; they can clear the mines and provide our men with cover."

"What's their ETA?"

"Five minutes, given they don't run into any complications."

The Chief stood silently for the moment, taking a careful glance at the entrenched White Fang and taking into account the land mines. The other members of Blue Team waited patiently for their leader's command, they all knew what he was about to say.

"We don't have five minutes" he then spoke.

"What?" Makdai asks, struck odd by the SPARTAN's response "But without the tanks our men won't make it across!"

"We will" the super soldier retorts just as he turns to the tanned soldier armed with an anti-materiel rifle "Linda, map those mines" then to the others of Blue Team "Check your gear, we leave in sixty."

The Chief received only nods of compliance from his fellow squadmates, however he was quickly confronted by those of RWBY and JNPR with Nora exclaiming "We're coming too!" as she brandishes her hammer.

117 glared down at all of them, his towering height and incredible bulk imposed a sense of unmatched power and authority over the young ones, he began in his usual stoic tone "Fine, Blue Team will draw their fire and provide cover for you as we make it across" but then his voice became strict "Stay close and don't fall behind."

However despite the Master Chief's sudden ruggedness, Ruby answered "Don't worry about us. If something happens we can take care of ourselves."

"Let's hope so."

After surveying the terrain via her enhanced geographic and ground penetrating radar sensors, Linda returns to the group stating "Mines mapped, sending the data to your HUDs."

As she said, the data regarding the location of the individual mines ahead of them has been sent to the other SPARTANs, Farley at one moment glanced out through a window to find the explosives tagged and highlighted red across his screen, he could've counted little over a dozen set in the path in front of them.

However a thought occurs to Nikos and prompts her to step up to the Chief "Sir, if you'll allow me, I can remove the mines. I just need to know where they're at so I can focus on them."

The now silent Master Chief Petty Officer looks down at Pyrrha, at first he would've said no and leave the matter at that but upon a second look he found something that nearly rivals himself- her vivid green eyes so full of sheer will and determination that almost matches his own. She wanted the job done with no more casualties than there already is as much as he does.

"Please" she asks one last time.

There was one final moment of pause before Chief turns to Linda "Linda, give her a hand with those explosives."

058 nodded in response and waves Nikos to follow her to one of the windows that looks out to the field outside of town, upon first glance from Pyrrha she couldn't find anything of note lying in the grass. But to her surprise she turns to Linda to see the SPARTAN actually removing her ARGUS-Class Mjolnir helmet, revealing her pale skin, blood-red hair, and emerald green eyes and hold the helmet out to the huntress.

"You'll need this" Linda states, prompting the huntress to take it from her hands.

At first Pyrrha hesitated but then carefully picked the weighted helmet into her hands before she reaches out and removes her bronze headpiece and undo her pony tail letting her hair to fall down.

Jaune, along with the other of RWBY and JNPR, were quickly astonished by the eerily close resemblance the two carried with them, the red hair and green eyes being a first. But while Pyrrha was also surprised by this at first she quickly sets the thought aside and slides the helmet over her head. The helmet fitted snuggly around her head and right off the spot she found all of these various displays surrounding the edges of her visor such as a shield meter, local movement tracker, weapon readouts, and more. Setting those aside as well, she focuses her attention to the mines scattered about ahead with each highlighted red and found lightly buried only under a few inches of dirt. She reaches out with her right open hand and begins to focus her energy on the mines, with her semblance of polarity she starts to lift the explosives from out of the ground until they were suspended in mid-air. Linda watched with unusual interest as Pyrrha then clenches her hand into a fist thus crushing the mines and renders them inert before casually dropping the crumpled remains onto the ground.

Afterwards she removes the helmet and kindly hands it back to the SPARTAN who then puts it back on, "What was that?" 058 questioned.

"It's something I'll have to tell you later. I believe we still have a man to catch" Nikos answered as she puts her hair back up and places her headpiece around her head again.

During final preparations, Ruby notices the man known as Fred make a quick run back for his pod that still laid out in the open intersection, taking glancing blows from gunfire, but he was able to make it and begin taking something from the inside. All the while the two black figures, Rose and Raphael, lay down cover fire sending ballistic rounds into the White Fang entrenchments. In moments Fred produces a single-tube shoulder-fire launcher sporting an olive drab finish over the body and slaps the weapon onto his back before turning on his heels and sprint back into the ruined house that offered them shelter.

Chief glances back at Fred and the other SPARTANs before he asks "Everyone ready?"

He receives simultaneous "Ready!" from his team before they began to take up positions next to him, all eight SPARTANs lined up next to one another, readying their assortments of rifles, shotguns, and explosives.

Chief then looks to the members of RWBY and JNPR "Remember what I said."

The hunters and huntresses acknowledged and moved in behind their armored allies taking up their places with each individual super soldier to use as a shield.

Makdai then approached the Master Chief and states "If you can put those pillboxes out of commission, my men can clear the rest of the mines and mop up the trenches."

The SPARTAN leader nods respectively "Consider it done."

"Thank you" the colonel answered with gratitude before he barks to his men "Alright! Clear the way for the soldiers!"

The men done as ordered and cleared out of the way of the SPARTANs who faced the standing wall between them and the field of fire, Ruby noticed this and started to wonder what they were planning to do, but this was now no longer the time to think . . .

"Blue Team, fall out . . ."

As those words left the Master Chief's mouth, all eight SPARTAN super soldiers revved up their suits' built-in thrusters and suddenly charged forth towards the wall without a second thought giving RWBY and JNPR little to no time to react as they quickly gave chase. In moments the human walking tanks smashes right through the stone wall in an display of utter power and in seconds they were engulfed in heavy machine gun and rifle fire from the trenches only approximately eighty yards ahead. Jaune and Pyrrha were quick to throw up their shields to provide additional cover for the rest of their teams as they tried to keep pace with the augmented soldiers only feet in front of them.

Ruby couldn't help but watch the soldiers charge headfirst into the barrage of gunfire as she ran alongside them; heavy caliber rounds continuously ricochet off their energy shielding and titanium armor. The entrenched soldiers began to use explosives, makeshift Molotov cocktails and stolen military-grade grenades, by hurling them through the air towards the incoming enemy that did not dare to slow down. Despite evading the mixture of bullets and shrapnel, the young children continued to watch in awe as the SPARTANs gladly greeted the thrown devices, the explosive force of hand grenades did little to rock the towering giants as they charged through the burning flames of shattered beer bottles.

By this point they came within seventeen meters before they started to hear the voices of the White Fang, some bewildered and in panic while others remained calm and readied their next orders.

"Alright Blue Team" Chief spoke, his voice seemed unshaken by neither enemy fire nor the exhausting sprint he just endured "Break!"

At once the eight SPARTANs broke formation and stormed the trenches immediately killing off the occupants in moments through quick precise ballistic fire or brutal hand-to-hand combat. The members of RWBY and JNPR broke off as well and followed their own SPARTAN into the trenches to aid them.

Ruby quickly found herself following the Chief as he leaps into a trench, in between two surprised soldiers, before he quickly slams the stock of his assault rifle into the faceplate of the first soldier, the sheer force was enough to fracture the white mask and render the man unconscious, then turn on his heels and squeeze off two well placed rounds into the lungs and heart of the second. Ruby jumps in behind him just in time to see him take a bolt to his back where it refracted off of his shields prompting to turn towards the shooter, finding several other hostiles rushing to reinforce the gap in their defenses, and quickly lay down short controlled bursts of automatic fire. Rose watched the soldiers crumple to the ground as they are torn down but armor piercing rounds fired from the legendary super soldier, however she turns to face the other direction and find one man taking aim with his rifle. Instinctively she drew her _Crescent Rose_ into her rifle configuration and sends a dust projectile streaming from the barrel directly into the chest plate of the attacking soldier; as a result the man was knocked onto his back and was incapacitated afterwards.

The Chief glanced back at Rose who had just covered him from another attack and spoke appreciatively "Thanks" before he looks back to scan for more targets, but none were present. Their small portion of the trench was cleared.

In another part of the line, Ren and Nora found themselves with Sandra and Farley as well as the armor-clad figure known as Raphael. Like the previous duo, they stormed the trenches by force and began to systematically neutralize the threat through lethal and nonlethal measures. With a ferocious slam of her hammer, Valkyrie was able to knock out a trio of soldiers in a single concussive blow; Ren utilized his quick agility and precise bursts of dual automatic fire to close in and take down another pair who were preparing to fire on them. The two members of Fireteam Raptor kept close to one another and used their augmented abilities and weaponry to remove the threats as they deem fit whether it would be a debilitating melee blow or a devastating gun fire. However amongst this Raphael made his own personal target, a small makeshift machinegun nest currently laying down heavy fire on the Atlesian forces still trapped in the village, he charges through the trench on his own with his M90 CAWS shotgun laying waste to whoever stood in front of him. At first glance there was nobody to oppose him until a pair of soldiers came out of hiding just feet from the bunker entrance and open fire sending bolts and dust-based bullets raining on him, however his shields withstood several direct hits before failing, prompting the attacker to cease his assault and dive for cover behind a small stack of metal crates. But rather than wait for his shields to recharge he activates his suit's active camouflage and fades from view.

"Drop a grenade on that freak!" one of the soldiers cried out.

The other produced a grenade from his belt "Don't tell me twice . . ." and pulled the pin before lobbing it over to Raphael's cover.

The resulting blast blew that particular part of the trench apart but to their surprise there was no corpse, and before they could speak they were immediately flanked from outside the trench. Raphael materializes into view with his weapon braced against his shoulder as he fires off the first shell sending a flurry of eight gauge buckshot into the closest target, killing him instantly, before quickly drawing his M6D magnum and deliver two subsequent shots into the second target before the soldier could react, killing him as well. Now approaching the entrance into the pillbox, he pulls a M9 Fragmentation Grenade from one of his pouches and primes the explosive with a press of the red button before tossing it into the open doorway. A sudden uproar of voices could be heard from inside but the imminent blast immediately silenced them as well as utterly obliterating the structure from within throwing wooden splinters and other items into the air.

Then finally a single word left Raphael's mouth "Clear."

Not too far from the smoldering pillbox, Weiss and Blake had followed Fred and Kelly into another portion of the trench lines where they began to engage the White Fang there. In a swift and powerful display of tactical and well-coordinated prowess, Fred immediately takes out two hostiles with two precise rounds fired from his DMR as he jumps into the trench while Kelly, through her unmatched speed, had already charged into a crowded portion of the entrenchment and began ravaging the enemy in close quarters combat.

Belladonna had chosen to follow Frederic into the trench and aid him, as he prepares to engage an oncoming squad of armed soldiers the two were quickly jumped by another squad of men who had hid themselves away outside of the trench. Three men had tackled the SPARTAN to the ground while the other three focused their efforts on the huntress. In swift response Blake drew her _Gambol's Shroud_ before squeezing off two rounds into her attackers' chests, taking down two, but the third managed to get within arm's length and grab a hold of her pinning her against the wooden boards that formed the walls of the trench. The man tried to keep the huntress under control through a series of power struggles with her, but ultimately he loses the fight as she was able to bring up her right leg and slam her boot against his stomach sending him reeling back before she finishes it up with a knuckled up left hook that connected with his lower jaw thus knocking him unconscious. She turns to see Fred now taking control of his predicament, having broken the first soldier's neck and proceed to shoot the other two square in the chest, and in moments he was back on his feet in fighting condition.

SPARTAN-087 deals a lighting quick blow to her closest target, slamming her armored right leg into the side of the white fang soldier who stood no chance of even reacting, and then proceed to lunge towards the second, catching his face within her own gloved left hand and smashes his head into the ground with extreme force. Before Weiss could even understand what was happening, Kelly had already moved to the third and fourth soldier wiping them out with blinding strikes of sheer unyielding speed. During her assault on a fifth, Schnee catches sight of a soldier rushing from outside the trench towards Kelly armed with a dagger ready to kill. She quickly uses her aura to conjure a glyph in front of her just as the man leaped into the air but swiftly a white lance of pure energy shoots out from the glyph and strikes the man in his side, sending him flying into a tree with a pained cry. 087 had looked up in time to see the soldier take the hit then turned her sights to Weiss and gave an appreciative nod for the cover.

Frederic's voice then could be heard shouting "Hostile vehicle coming in!"

They turn their attention to outside of the trench within the forests; there they spot an old pick-up truck racing through a forest path armed with a heavy quad-AA weapon. It was heading right for them.

"M57 up!" the male SPARTAN roared as he sets down his rifle and calls upon the launcher he had stored on his back.

The truck came to a screeching halt and the weapon sighted in on their position before opening up with high-caliber automatic fire that forced Kelly and the others to find cover, but Fred remained standing as he lines up the shot.

"Rocket away!" he barks just as the 50mm HEMP rocket launches from the tube and screams its way towards the target.

The next thing he could see was the vehicle crew scrambling to get away before they were suddenly engulfed in a ball of fire that flashed seconds later followed by the deafening blast of the explosion reducing the truck to smoldering twisted metal.

"Second vehicle incoming! Not ours!" a voice called from above.

Weiss and Blake looked up to see Linda-051 up in the trees; she remained close to the trunk due to the branches being at their strongest. She, looking through her rifle's scope, could see what appeared to be a captured and modified M12 Warthog with the White Fang emblem crudely painted over the more elegant ONI insignia. Curtesy of its captors, the Warthog had received a pintle-mounted machine gun just above the passenger seat and a heavy mortar launcher in the truck bed as well. The soldier mounting the HMG spots Linda in the trees and began laying down fire, forcing Linda to quickly jump off but then suspend herself upside down from the branch she stood on with the help of two tow cables stretching from her waist. She sights in and fires off a round that darted towards the man's chest as the vehicle was racing by, it was a clean hit. She sends a second round flying towards the vehicle itself and managed to pierce through the hog's back left wheel suspension arm thus breaking off the wheel entirely. Without the fourth wheel to keep the vehicle stable, the hog came to a screeching halt as the back left corner of the vehicle was dragged through the ground. The machine gunner continued to lay down fire while two more passengers began loading a shell into the mortar tube, Linda manages to kill the gunner with one shot through the chest but the mortar crew had already lined up their weapon and dropped the primed the shell into the tube. Seconds later the shell came flying out with a loud _'_ _THUMP'_ soaring into the air, prompting others to look up and predict where the shell will land.

Moments later after deciphering the projected zone of impact, Fred shoots a quick look at Blake and yells "Get down!" just as he tackles her onto the ground and cover her body with his own.

The shell came down and crashed just outside of the trench right next to Belladonna and S-104, sending a powerful shockwave all around and throws dirt, mud, and wood into the air. Weiss and Kelly were able to duck down to shelter themselves but due to the close proximity Linda was in she was knocked clean off of her post and was sent falling onto her back hard.

Fred gets up onto a knee over Blake who then looks up to him and gratifies him "Thanks…"

He nods acceptingly before he takes hold of his intact launcher and takes aim; seconds later he pulls the trigger and launches the second rocket towards its target. Like the previous vehicle, the warthog's crew attempted to flee the vehicle but they were obliterated the moment the 50mm projectile slammed against the chassis and detonated, ravaging everything within its blast radius.

"Vehicle knocked out!" 104 called out "Head count!"

087 responded "Kelly, here…"

Then 051 "Linda, green."

Back to Chief and Ruby, together the two cleared out two more machine gun bunkers and another two platoons of soldiers through non-lethal means on the request of the latter. The huntress and the super soldier were already beginning to become more in sync with one another, understanding each other's strengths and flaws therefore building up on those. In one instance, Ruby breaks into a sudden burst of speed using her rose petal semblance with Chief close behind firing off single precise rounds to wound his targets, once Rose came within range she would take out the first soldier with a single sweep shortly before the second soldier would come up and prepare to strike. However the Master Chief was there in the nick of time to send his gauntleted fist crashing into the attacker's chest leaving him incapacitated, a third soldier lined up a shot with his high-powered rifle and fires a bolt of energized dust, the SPARTAN ducks below it in time for it to pass and Ruby to vault over his back and take out the target with a round from her rifle.

It wasn't long for the two to quickly find SPARTAN Rose in the company of Yang and Pyrrha, the trio of female warriors inflicted a devastating amount of damage upon the enemy troops through a series of quick, one-sided brawls and shootouts that left the soldiers in various states of health.

Pyrrha bashes her shield into the back of a stunned enemy before she looks to see another soldier about to take a swing at Yang with a trenching shovel; she calls out to her "Yang behind you!"

But before Xiao Long could react, Rose storms in and swings her DMR by its barrel letting the rifle stock fly right into the man's face thus shattering his mask and breaking his nose in the process.

Yang finally turned around to see the man lying on the ground unconscious and then look up to Rose "Thanks . . ."

The SPARTAN nodded in acknowledgment and braces the rifle against her shoulder to fire again but before she could acquire her next target she was suddenly struck by an orange beam of hardlight erupting from the trees beyond the trench. The blast had knocked her onto her back but fortunately it was only a grazing blow to her shields that were now depleted. Pyrrha and Yang quickly traced the shot back to its point of origin, and there standing in the shadows of the forest was the rogue SPARTAN himself already taking aim to fire again. A orange beam of light shined from the rifle and found its mark on Xiao Long's chest, but through quick thinking Nikos reached for her semblance before grabbing hold of Deimos' rifle through polarity and throw his aim upwards just as he fired shooting out a lance of light into the trees above him. With his aim now thrown off and his weapon's charge has been depleted, he turns on his heels and bolts into the forest.

"He's retreating!" Pyrrha yells to her two allies.

Yang quickly helps Rose to her feet with the latter stating "Don't let him get away!"

The three hence forth charged out of the trench and deeper into the forests, but before they got too far Rose-077 contacts the other members of her team "Got positive visual on the target, he's breaking east further into the forest. Xiao Long and Nikos are with me."

Immediately a response comes back, it was the Master Chief _"_ _Acknowledged, we'll back you up once we handle the rest of the hostiles in the area. Stay on your feet."_

"Copy."

[Thirty seven minutes later]

In the thick wooded areas of the Argonne Forests, SPARTAN Rose and huntresses Yang and Pyrrha continued their search for rogue Deimos along with the other members of Blue Team, RWBY, and JNPR who had broken off into smaller joint-teams in an effort to expand their search. Leading the trio was Rose herself who walked with a steady posture, her M395B DMR braced against her shoulder as her eyes scanned the trees for signs of movement, Pyrrha was close behind with Milo' set into its javelin configuration as she too treaded carefully, however hanging back was Yang Xiao Long who walked casually and took brief glances around the trees for anything resembling their target.

"How far did we go?" Nikos wondered as she looks behind her seeing nothing but endless trees and the blonde huntress, there was no sight of the battle they had left.

"Half a klick at most" Rose responded "Deimos couldn't have gone too far ahead on foot."

"Deimos isn't one to run from a fight" Pyrrha adds.

Then Yang remarked "You sure? It seems like the only thing he does is run."

"What I mean is he only runs just to lure us into an ambush."

"Which is what we're walking into right now" the super soldier notes.

"You sound sure of that."

"I am sure."

The three then began to approach what appears to be another open meadow aside from the war torn village they had left, this grassy opening was home to a large pond but there was nothing else of note. However upon closer inspection, they found two bodies lying out in the middle of the plains, both had Atlesian uniforms covering them.

"So this is the ambush?" Yang asked, standing behind Rose who crouched behind a bush along with Pyrrha.

The SPARTAN stood up and walked through the bush out into the opening "Not yet . . ."

Feeling compelled, the two followed their armored ally out onto the meadow. Rose silently walked towards the two bodies with rifle in hand with no interruption from anything. She closes in on the two bodies, noting both had died from gunshot wounds and were dragged out all the way here given the trail of blood they had left behind. She finally comes next to the closest one and kneels down to take a closer look, the man had his body armor pieced by two ballistic rounds and then suffered a knife wound to his neck, dog tags were still present, but there was no rifle magazines or even grenades that came standard issue. Then a thought came from the back of her head.

"Yang, Pyrrha, step back" she calmly orders.

"What?" Yang protested.

"I said step back" she orders, now more strict.

As told, the two stepped away silently before Rose carefully rolled the corpse onto its side and quickly find two grenades resting in a small dug out hole and a string attached from the explosive's safety pin to the man's back, the string she had just pulled. The combined force of the two grenades erupted into a violent blast that sent a powerful shockwave in all directions, throwing dust and smoke up into the air, and knock the two huntresses back a step while Rose herself was engulfed in the fireball.

Yang was fortunate enough to have been standing behind Pyrrha when she threw up her shield to deflect the debris and shrapnel that was thrown from the explosion, but after the blast Yang comes out and calls to their SPARTAN "Rose!"

The dust slowly settled into a haze and at the epicenter of the explosion, Rose remained crouched and virtually unharmed from the blast after having been able to shield herself with her arms and activate her armor-lock system in her suit which ultimately saved her life. The soldier releases the lock and stands on her own two feet, her head quickly begins to scout the surrounding area but before she could turn to see either Yang or Pyrrha, the two were suddenly attacked by an unseen assailant. Yang was forcibly smashed aside by a heavy force and then Nikos was seized by the back of her neck, she struggles to free herself but whatever had gripped her wouldn't budge an inch as its hand clamped down around her throat.

Rose quickly saw Pyrrha being lifted off the ground gasping for air and drew her rifle to take aim. She trains her DMR and fires two quick shots, one aimed at the assailant's shoulder that held up Pyrrha, and another at the center of their chest. The first shot made its target, smacking against what she assumed was an arm or wrist, causing the assailant to let out a sharp grunt of pain and drop the young huntress who then ducked to her right to dodge the second bullet as it came in before impacting squarely against the chest...

"Pyrrha! Go to Yang!" Rose shouted. "I'll cover you!" As Pyrrha caught her breath, she picked herself up and rushed towards her fallen teammate. Rose kept her sights on their assailant as they regained their composure, and Rose's muscles tensed up, readying herself for whatever might come next.

After suffering two direct hits, the figure phases into view revealing itself to be Deimos to no one's surprise. His shields flickered briefly as it re-energized to full strength before he finally moves, loosening up his shoulders in preparation for his first actual fight with a second generation SPARTAN. Neither soldier said a word, only kept their silent glares on one another.

Pyrrha and Yang watched them attentively waiting for one to make the first move, the latter asks in a whisper "What're we waiting for? We can take him."

But as Xiao Long was preparing to get up Nikos stops her "Yang, I don't think you want to be in the middle of this one . . ."

"Why?" she asks incredulously.

She only answered "Trust me . . ."

The two super soldiers stared for another moment until it was Deimos who spoke up " **No surprise ONI would send a second generation. I know your kind doesn't work alone, so where's the rest of your team?** "

"On their way" Rose responded before she begins to make her demand "SPARTAN Adam, stand down. "

" **That's not my name anymore . . . don't think I'll answer you if you call me such.** "

S-077 resumes "I'm not ordering you again, Deimos. Stand down immediately."

At that moment she notices an increase in temperature around his two hands, the air around them began to shimmer like in a hot summer day, then he spoke " **I'm not taking orders from you anymore . . .** "

 **Really sorry for the VERY long wait, I've sorta fallen out of the story mood in addition with work and other things that is life. But I'm back in action and the next chapter for RWBY: TDH will be out very soon. As always leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.**


	26. A shift in power

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 25**

 **"** **A shift in power"**

[June 13th, 2558]

[Argonne Forests, Kingdom of Vale]

[5:48 PM]

Without a second thought, Rose lines up her rifle on her target's chest and begins sending rounds downrange, each 7.62mm FMJ-AP round streamed through the air before colliding with the rogue's shields. However he did not just stood there to take the hits, after receiving two to his chest Deimos skips to his left and ducks into a roll before coming up to a crouched position with his left hand extended outwards towards her. Immediately an orb of searing heated energy develops within his palm and he fires the energetic projectile towards her, the ball moved swiftly but the SPARTAN-ll was quicker to key her suit's thrusters and jolt to her right as she continued firing. Realizing his initial attack had proved fruitless; Deimos brings about his right hand, currently holding its own sphere of heat, and fires the projectile into the ground between him and his adversary. The resulting blast echoed through the forests and created a thick screen of black smoke around the two warring individuals.

Through thought, Rose tapped into her advanced VISR settings that peered effortlessly through the coverage, not moments she catches sight of Deimos who was now literally feet from her left with a ball of energy ready in his right palm. The speed he had to clear an eight meter gap was surprising enough but unfortunately she only had time to turn her rifle towards him before he plants his hand against her chest and detonates the orb right against her titanium armor. The blast was extremely powerful, sending Rose sprawling through the air until she collided into the lake, her body skipped across the water like a rock until she finally came to a halt.

She stands to in the knee-deep water with no signs of damage other than a large scorch mark now inhabiting her chest armor, her rifle was torn from her grip at the moment of impact from Deimos who was now charging out of the smoke cloud towards her. She quickly reaches for her right thigh and draws her personal M6C magnum, training her sights on the attacker, and squeeze out several rounds that zipped across the space between the two SPARTANs and smack against the rogue's shields. Deimos rushes through the water that offered no resistance to his augmented legs and closes in on his opponent who empties the rest of her sidearm into his withering shields and body. Unfortunately she couldn't down him in time so in preparation for what's yet to come she holsters her magnum and ejects two close-quarters butterfly knives from her gauntlets, with a quick twirl of her fingers the four inch carbide blades flips out and were ready for action, and held her knives in a reverse grip.

Deimos passes the five meter mark before he lunges out at her with yet another ball of energy primed in his right open hand, with no second to spare he hurls the ball at her at point-blank range. Rose falls into her armor lock and tanked the hit before she breaks free of her restraint and charges the rouge, tackling him into the water with sheer force. Deimos struggled underneath his adversary to free himself, instinctively launching a right hook that crashed into Rose's helmet, but the SPARTAN-ll held firm and held him down as she readies one of her knives for the killing blow. She raises the blade high in her left hand aimed for his neck but with a angered roar Deimos puts what energy he has into his right palm and plants it again against her chest, the following blast threw 077 into the air until she came crashing down in the water only meters away.

With her shields depleted and her armor now taking moderate damage from his aura-based attacks, Rose realized she wasn't going to easily win one-on-one with her opponent. Looking past Deimos she could see Yang and Pyrrha standing by watching, waiting for the moment to intervene, however she wasn't quite willing to place them in a fight between two beings miles beyond their own caliber. Rethinking her strategy, all she needs to do now was to hold the target here until the rest of Blue Team can arrive.

By this time, Deimos had already closed in and swung a swift left hook but she reactively threw up her right arm and blocked the blow with her forearm. She attempts to make her own left jab at him but he was just as quick as she was when he steps out of the knife's way and bring his right elbow down on her arm like a hammer then with a follow up blow he manages to snap her wrist and disarm one of her knives. However at the cost of obtaining the knife, the rogue had briefly allowed himself to be open for Rose's counter move, rushing her only blade into his side and pierce the bodysuit. He grunts in pain before she pulls it out and makes for another stab but he skips out of range and readies the blade he now possesses.

Without concern for his injury Deimos charges yet once more and takes a wide swing for Rose's neck but she ducks below the blade and passes him, grabbing his left arm and bends it backwards once she was behind him. She pulls at the arm then raise her knife wielding right hand and plunge it into his left shoulder joint, the blade bit and tore through his suit and flesh causing him to give a sharp cry of agony shortly before he coils up his left leg and send it straight into the commando's abdomen causing her to stagger only for the briefest moment. Fortunately she was able to rip her weapon out of him before he forced her away.

Deimos calmly turns to face her, no obvious signs of exhaustion were showing but he was definitely in pain, then gestures " **You're skilled. . . I'll give you that, but that's to be expected from you. I on the other hand . .**."

Before her very eyes, Rose watched as a subtle orangish essence of aura surround the affected areas of damage on his body and begin to gradually seal up the wounds, in moments his bleeding has ceased " **I'm unlike anything seen yet."**

Rose was admittedly impressed his regenerative abilities and pyro-combative style, definitely something not to be taken lightly. However he begins to approach her with a steady march, her stolen knife still in hand, until that march broke into jog and then into a sprint. He closes in but with a sudden surprise a roar of a gun blast echoes out and the rogue was stopped as a heavy force hits him from his left.

He turns to see a shotgun wielding armored clad soldier, not one wearing Mjolnir armor but rather a set of jet black SPI armor featuring the all-seeing-eye of ONI labeled on the shoulder plate.

"Blue-6 stay back!" Rose urged him.

But without another second to think, Deimos shifts his focus and begins power walking towards Raphael who braces the shotgun against his shoulder and begins firing. The first concentrated burst of buckshot made its mark against the rogue's right arm, the arm coils back from the impact but it did not slow the aggressor's advance. Another shell is pumped and fired, Raph now began to slowly march towards his target, and strikes Deimos in his left thigh which brought him to a kneel but he stands back up and hastens his pace. One more shell is fired now concentrated on the chest, but rather than taking the hit Deimos shifts his body off to the right to avoid the blast and then immediately break into a sprint right towards the ONI operative. Raph halts himself and loads one last shell into the chamber before taking aim, he zeros his sights in on Deimos' head and fires, but the rogue instinctively ducks into a roll beneath the flying pellets and then pounce at his victim.

Raph skips back to put some distance but Deimos closes in regardless and launches a right handed uppercut with knife in hand. Blue-6 throws up his shotgun in front of him and the two weapons clashed against each other, saving his life, but his attacker quickly rips the gun from his hands and deal a heavy left handed blow to the side of the operative's helmet. Raphael staggers from the hit, briefly dazed by the sheer force of Deimos' strength given by his augmentations, suit, and aura. The attacker then brandishes the knife and prepares to impale his opponent but Raph stops the blow mid-swing when he counters with grasping the SPARTAN's forearm and then launch his fist into the enemy's faceplate. However the power he was packing was enough to deal sufficient damage, it only made his opponent's head coil back but afterwards he lets out a small cackle.

"Something funny?" Raph asks as he reaches for the kukri sheathed on his left shoulder.

" **Just one thing** " Deimos replies " **You're not packing much of a hit to be a SPARTAN . . . you're just a human."**

Raphael fully draws his bladed weapon and takes a swing for Deimos' abdomen but the fully fledged SPARTAN catches his wrist and crushes it forcing the operative to let out a cry shortly before his attacker grabs hold of his leg and raise him high above himself. The human struggled to free himself but it was fruitless once the SPARTAN dropped him onto his knee, nearly breaking his back entirely. Raph continued screaming in pain as his back was being further bent against his attacker's knee. This didn't last much longer once Rose intervened and grabbed the preoccupied soldier in a choke hold, prompting Deimos to release Raphael and let him fall into the water motionless. 077 hoists her captive up to a stand before dragging him back away from Raph, but in response heat began to gather in the palms of the rogue's hands moments before he reaches back and grabs his opponent by her arms then with a sudden exertion of force he heaves the half-ton super soldier over himself and slam her into the ground on her back. Dazed and now pinned down, Rose struggles to free herself as Deimos holds her down with one hand and readies an orb of light in his other hand. The energetic ball reaches optimum strength and was ready for the kill but before he could've end the fight with one final blow, a yellow flying gauntleted fist rockets out from nowhere and collides with the rogue's helmet sending the fourth generation soldier sprawling through the air until crashing about twenty meters away. The stolen knife dropped into the water prompting Rose to take it back.

She then sits up to see Yang as her savior, her Ember Celica were primed and ready to go, Xiao Long extends her hand down to the SPARTAN who took it and pulled herself up "Thanks" she spoke.

"Don't mention it."

The two looked to Deimos who was steadily standing back up; Rose had to ask "Got a plan?"

Yang replied nonchalantly "Go check your friend, Pyrrha and I got this."

The soldier turns her head back to see her teammate was slowly getting up with some assistance from Nikos, but eventually he brushes her hands off and stood to, then she turns back ahead "He'll be fine."

Long smirked then nods to Deimos "Just keep attacking. Deimos is still getting used to his aura so it shouldn't last much longer."

"Copy that" 077 acknowledged as she drew her magnum into her right hand while still wielding her knife in her left.

Pyrrha joins them, weapon and shield in hand, "Rose and I'll flank his sides, Yang you take him head on."

A mischievous smile grew on Xiao Long's face as she pounded her fists together "Love to . . ."

"Alright then" Nikos replied "Go!"

Without thought, the three quickly broke and made a mad dash towards their shared target that stood ready for the oncoming assault, however he needed to disrupt their advance. Reaching for his back he produces his BR85 rifle and takes aim, first targeting Pyrrha, before letting out accurate bursts of fire downrange. Nikos threw her shield to deflect the incoming rounds and continues her advance without slowing down. This prompted the rogue to shift his aim and target Yang, with a squeeze of his trigger he sends more ballistic projectiles through the air towards their intended target however she ducks and weaves through the incoming fire with ease before she fires her gauntlets into the ground beneath her and launch herself into the air. Once mid-air, Xiao Long fires the rest of her shells onto Deimos' position with each round slamming down into the water around him and creating a wall of water surrounding him. However the SPARTAN kept his target and continues firing at the blonde huntress.

The water finally came down, revealing Rose to be on the other side in a full charge towards Deimos. She closes in within arms' reach and takes a wide swing with her knife, however the rogue instinctively ducks below the blade, as if he had already anticipated this move, letting her pass by harmlessly before turning around and empty the rest of his magazine into her back. Three short bursts effortlessly cracked Rose's energy shielding leaving her exposed yet again to his attacks, however before he could do anything Nikos launches her shield towards him with the flying disc slamming into his back causing him to stagger heavily forward. He swings his rifle around but the weapon was then ripped out of his hands by Yang who then swung it against his head like a bat, the strength and effort she put into it caused the battle rifle to shatter against Deimos' LOCUS helmet which received a pained grunt from him.

The rogue staggered and fell to a knee from the concussive blow but after being briefly dazed he stands back up just in time for Rose to close in and shoot her right knee into his abdomen with full strength, the blow from that nearly caused him to vomit as he staggers back a few steps while clenching his stomach with his left hand.

Yang, Pyrrha, and Rose surrounds the SPARTAN sociopath, he looks in every direction only to see an adversary standing in his way.

"You're not getting out of this one Deimos" Nikos states, her sword and shield at the ready.

Deimos continued searching for a way out, but much to his misfortune he spots the other members of RWBY, JNPR, and Blue Team sprinting their way towards them.

However a hesitant Schnee stood by on the shore of the lake with Ruby already arguing with her "Weiss c'mon! We got to get in there!"

"No way! Do you have any idea what water will do to my boots!? Not to mention how much they cost!? They'll be ruined Ruby, RUINED!"

Ruby grunts "Ugh Weiss! You're rich! You can buy new boots! Get over it!"

"I will not 'get over it'! Maybe you can bring the fight onto land then I'll help!"

"C'mon! You don't see me whining about my boots!"

"THEY'RE WATERPROOF!"

"Ok look! If you come now then I'll do ya a favor!"

"Like what?"

"I-I don't know- anything!? I'll do your homework; I'll clean our side of the room! Buy you a new set of boots!"

Weiss momentarily fell silent for several seconds then sighs "You know . . . I really hate you sometimes" and finally sets her foot in the water before reluctantly following Ruby to meet up with the others.

In a manner of moments he was surrounded on all sides and severely outgunned and outnumbered, one sociopath versus eight hunters and eight UNSC soldiers. Deimos growled under his breath with frustration.

"Stand down SPARTAN" the Master Chief orders; his assault rifle trained on his target "You're done . . ."

The rogue reevaluated his dilemma and knew this was a lost fight, despite this he figured he would rather go down fighting regardless of the odds stacked up against him or at the very least make a mad dash through their lines and attempt to escape but there was little chance of success. Then by synch, the SPARTANs of Blue Team began taking their steps closer to their target, Deimos readies himself for possibly his last fight. Until something stopped them.

In a white flash a figure materializes right behind the rogue soldier, causing Blue Team to halt and take a step back. The figure gently held her pink umbrella over her shoulder and gave the super soldiers an unsettling grin of pleasure, the hunters however recognized her immediately.

Deimos glances over his shoulder and sees the figure before turning his attention back to those surrounding them " **Neo, I thought you were on assignment."**

The girl made no response, instead she continued to stand there and examine the soldiers. Fred and Linda were prompted to shift their sights onto her.

"This is her assignment Deimos . . ." another voice calls out.

The group of soldiers and hunters turned their glares to a feminine figure walking towards them, her face was concealed behind a mask of the White Fang but her black hair and amber eyes were still present and her black suit concealed a vast majority of her body save for her arms and waist. This was a new character to the UNSC and Beacon students, but Deimos recognized her well.

" **M'lady . . ."** he spoke, somewhat surprised she had come out to aid him.

Almost immediately Fred and Kelly turned their sights onto the new arrival who continued her slow pace towards them.

The Chief glanced at the two new players on the field but he wasn't just yet ready to declare them hostiles worthy of engagement, however he needed to confirm his suspicions.

He shifts his aim onto the masked individual and orders "Identify yourself."

The woman stops and her eyes narrows on the war hero "My name's not important" she then shows a small grin and in a snap of her fingers two large swords featuring curved blades made of a hardened glass materializes in a flash of fire, upon securing the weapons in her hands she gives them a swift twirl before readying herself.

This was the confirmation Chief had waited for "Blue Team engage!"

The UNSC super soldiers immediately opens up with a furious barrage of lead upon their targets, meanwhile JNPR and RWBY focuses their attention on Deimos and his partner. Yang closes in on Neo, launching a fast-flying right hook aimed for her opponent's head but with a single swish of her umbrella Neo deflected the blow with ease. Ren and Nora charged Deimos head on but their advance was halted by two fiery balls of energy launched from the rogue. The masked woman, Cinder Fall, effortlessly danced her way through the bullets and buckshot until she closed in on Kelly and goes for a mid-slash with both of her blades aimed for the SPARTAN's soft abdomen however 087 skipped back, her speed was enough to surprise Fall if only for a moment. The entirety of the lake erupted into a furious brawl with SPARTANs and hunters fighting with rivaling tenacity.

Neo kept close to Deimos, knowing he would be everyone's main target, and managed to draw the attention of Yang, Jaune, Pyrrha, and Blake to herself. One by one the four warriors made their attempts at attacking her but with each blow she manages to wave off or deflect with her umbrella, going on the offense only when it was necessary and when her attackers had unknowingly opened themselves to a counter attack. Yang darts right on in and quickly delivers a one-two punch however Neo was fast enough to deflect the first blow and then duck her head beneath the second allowing herself to flank Xiao Long and launch her own roundhouse kick into the huntress's side causing her to flinch and back away. Neo then notices Jaune was right behind her, sword held high as he was about to strike, but she immediately drops low and sweeps Arc's feet with her own causing him to be knocked down with ease. Pyrrha and Blake joins up and ready themselves for their move.

Cinder Fall continues to move about harassing the SPARTANs of Blue Team, while several soldiers were able to keep their distance others weren't. Farley was one such soldier, after failing to land a blow on Rose Cinder moves on to her next target swiftly sprinting towards him and take a slice at him. However he was counter her blades with his left armored gauntlet, the titanium alloy effectively stopping her swords but not shattering the glass. He drops his rifle from his right hand and attempts to make a swing at her but Fall ducks beneath his fist before shooting up one of her heeled boots straight into his abdomen. The mute grunts in pain as he backs away but he quickly recovers and attacks once more, however Cinder was already back on her feet and sends a left spin kick slamming against the side of his head. Soon enough Fred jumps in and grabs Fall from behind, his arms wrapped around her torso to restrict movement, as Chief moves in to knock her out with a single blow from the butt of his rifle. But immediately Fred was blasted from behind by a powerful explosive force, an orb launched from Deimos who noticed the predicament his associate was in, forcing him to let out a sharp cry of pain as he lets go of his captor and falls to his knees temporarily. This gave Cinder enough time to engage the Master Chief, her dual swords swung at him but he was able to deflect them with his rifle however the blades ran deep into the weapon itself and rendered it inoperable.

Despite this the SPARTAN raised his left foot and sends it slamming against her stomach with the sheer force sending her falling back several feet but she was able to recover in a backwards roll that landed her back on her feet. Chief closes in, throwing his disabled weapon aside, and makes a quick right handed jab at her but she ducks to her right just in time to avoid it and deliver a swift spin kick to his side. It did little to affect him as shortly after he seizes one of her arms, throw her over his shoulder slamming her back against the water, and raise his own fist ready for the blow. Through speedy reaction Cinder swings her right heeled foot right into the soldier's orange visor; the impact fractured the glass and caused the man to coil back from the hit. This allowed Fall to get back up and fire her own sphere of blistering flames right into his chest damaging his suit moderately, the blast knocked the Master Chief into the water but regardless he was able to get right back up and ready himself again.

Nora charges Deimos, now separated from Neo in the midst of the fighting, with her hammer ready for a smashing but as she swung high for her opponent's head he spots her and ducks beneath the hammer before his right hand shoots out and seizes her neck in a strangling hold.

"Nora, hang on!" Lie Ren yelled as he zeros in to help his partner.

But the SPARTAN spots the incoming hunter, prompting him to throw Valkyrie aside like a piece of discarded trash, and as Ren reaches within melee distance Deimos throws a fast and powerful right wide swing in an effort to clothesline his attacker. But Ren drops to his knees and slides beneath the arm before jumping back up on his feet and attack Deimos from behind, unloading his dual automatic weapons into his opponent's back. However Ren's automatic pistols still lacked the stopping power or armor penetrating capability to do any real damage to Deimos but regardless he was now only using them to harass the SPARTAN further and give him a target to focus on.

As he had hoped Deimos swings around in an attempt to strike down the hunter but Ren takes a skip back and begins running in a circle around the soldier, his pistols blistering away as he tries to keep Deimos suppressed. Unfortunately this didn't last long once the rogue conjured a sphere in his hands and launch it right towards his adversary, the ball zipped and landed in the spot a few meters in front of Ren thus detonating and disrupting the hunter's attack.

Ren swiftly comes to a stop, shielding his eyes from the blast as it threw up smoke and water, before turning towards Deimos, and grins. This struck the soldier odd until he figures out what happened and realizes it was already too late, while Ren continued to harass him he allowed Ruby and Weiss enough time to get into position to attack.

"Weiss now!" he hears a voice call out, that voice belonging to Ruby.

He quickly turns about and spots Ruby darting right for him with her _Crescent Rose_ fully deployed, but off to her left he finds Miss Schnee sprinting alongside her but she was already summoning a glyph. He moves to engage but at the first instance he tried to move his feet they wouldn't budge from where they were, looking down he finds the water around his feet had been frozen in place thus immobilizing him and rendering him vulnerable to attack. He looks up just as Ruby entered arms' length and strike, swinging her scythe at full strength but he was able to throw up both of his armored gauntlets to counter the blow. The razor blade made contact with the gauntlets and scraped across the titanium, a flurry of sparks lashed out as the two metals went against each other, and a heavy metallic _'_ _clang'_ rang out for everyone to hear.

The impact caused Deimos to jolt backwards nearly losing his balance but he was able to correct himself and after doing so he catches sight of Weiss already high above him with her _Myrtenaster_ at the ready with a crystal of light blue dust loaded into its integral mechanism. Then, like a lightning bolt casted down from a furious storm, Schnee comes down with such speed and grace and lunges at the SPARTAN. Weiss closes in and attempts to drive the tip of her sword right into his left shoulder joint but the rogue quickly reacts by throwing out his left arm letting the two clash and scrape against each other resulting in crystalline ice to form around his left arm thus freezing it entirely. After causing damage Weiss withdrew her blade and retreats before her opponent could have the chance to strike back but he was unable to do so as he couldn't effectively fight now that he was immobilized and down one arm. This was the best time to wrap it all up.

"Ruby! The restraint!" she calls out.

Upon hearing Weiss, Deimos turns his head to see young Rose reach into one of her belt pouches and reveal an armor restraint primed and ready for use. Not wasting another second Ruby leaps into action activating her semblance and launch herself into a storm of rose petals barreling towards him. But now determined to not let this be the end of everything he reaches with his right hand for his lower back and draws upon his M319 single shot grenade launcher and takes aim single handedly.

"Ruby get back!" Sandra's voice barks from close by upon seeing the weapon.

But it was too late, Deimos pulls the trigger and the 40mm explosive projectile is launched from the tube hurtling its way towards the charging huntress with his finger holding down the trigger waiting for the right moment. The lobbed shell and Ruby now came within dangerous proximity of each other and the explosive detonates with fierce power knocking Ruby off course and send her crashing into the water with a pained cry of anguish, her scythe thrown out of her reach as her aura took the brunt of the explosion and withered away shortly after.

"Ruby!" Weiss cries out, forcing her to ready herself and charge Deimos.

But as soon as she came within striking distance, Deimos swings his left arm smashing it against her body with enough force to fracture the ice keeping it restrained. Schnee was brutally swept aside allowing the rogue to holster his weapon, form a sphere of heat in his right palm, and blast his own left arm with it shattering the ice completely before forming another surge of energy and blast the ice that entrapped his feet thus freeing himself. His moment of triumph was short-lived the moment Nora appeared from his left and make a heavy swing for him, he skips back in time to avoid it but soon enough Ren jumps in, clambering onto the SPARTAN's back, and unloads his auto-pistols into his back and head. Deimos reaches back grabbing one of the hunter's ankles and forcefully yanks him off before slamming his body into the ground. Nora jumps back in taking another swing at Deimos but he steps out of the way before suddenly rushing her in a burst of speed, throwing quick blows across her body causing her to stagger back briefly dazed but allowed enough time for him to break into a sprint and land a devastating drop kick knocking Valkyrie down onto the ground injured.

With Ren and Nora out of the way Deimos turns to face Ruby who was now on her hands and knees recovering from the blast she had just took, she in turn looks up to see him.

" **You…** " he growls hatefully now marching towards her.

Immediately Weiss and Sandra comes to Rose's aid standing between her and the soldier, in response his march breaks into a dead sprint gunning for the two. Weiss loads another crystal into her weapon while Sandra takes aim and starts squeezing off rounds hoping to stop him dead but Deimos openly embraced the incoming projectiles shrugging them off and ball up his right fist. He comes into range of Weiss and with a sudden burst of power from his thrusters he blows right past Schnee knocking her aside and launch his fist sending it crashing into Sandra's helmet with enough force to send her falling onto the ground. With little loss in momentum he rapidly closes in on Ruby who was now frantically crawling towards her submerged scythe, but she was too slow. He jettisons himself into the air, his thrusters at maximum output and his right hand now holding a condensed ball of energy, and now zeroes in on his victim who finally realizes that this is now the end for her.

" **Time to die my darling Rose!** " his voice roars with a mixture of adrenaline and victorious pleasure.

 _"_ _ADAM! NO!"_

Without warning a sharp piercing pain shoots through his head, forcing him to break his attack and end up colliding with the ground screaming to the top of his lungs " **GAAAAAHHAHAHAAAA!** "

Frightened, Ruby scrambles away a few feet from Deimos as he rolls in the water with his hands clasped around his head as he continues screaming out in intolerable anguish " **AAAAAAAH RAGHAAAAA!** "

The sudden blooding curdling screaming prompts all the other combatants to cease fighting and look over to the source, almost all were swept with confusion and uncertainty having no idea what is happening to the rogue. Once finding her weapon Rose stands to and watches the man that nearly killed her roar out with pain, fear and confusion were the only things she could feel right now.

"Deimos?" she mutters unsure of what is happening.

 _"_ _STOP HURTING THESE PEOPLE ADAM! YOU ARE BETTER THAN THIS! YOU KNOW THAT!"_

" **GET OUT OF MY HEAD! GAAH! I'VE TOLD YOU TIME AND TIME AGAIN- YOU'RE NOT HER! GRAAHHAHAHAAACK! SHE'S DEAD!** "

 _"_ _I AM RIGHT HERE ADAM! YOU CAN'T KEEP IGNORING THAT! YOU NEED TO STOP NOW!"_

He frantically stands up onto his feet, nearly unable to keep himself stable " **RAAAAAAAAH! STOP! ENOUGH- AAAAAAAAAHHHH!** " he howls like some deranged animal.

Ruby still couldn't understand what was happening, but a voice barks to her "Ruby! Use the restraint!"

She follows the voice back to the speaker, Yang, "Use the restraint!" with the Master Chief adding "We'll cover you but you need to do it now!"

She still held the restraint in her hand and nods with acknowledgement "Ok!" before she begins sprinting towards the tortured SPARTAN.

However Cinder and Neo prepares to move in and rescue their ally in need but they were swiftly cut off by the members of JNPR accompanied by Farley and Fred, Deimos was a vulnerable target without cover or support. Ruby closed in, holding out the restraint in hopes of slapping it onto his armor, but despite his fit of rage he catches sight of her and prepares a ball of energy.

"RUBY!" Yang bellows.

But it was too late, as soon as Ruby came within arms' reach Deimos lashes out at her and plants the sphere firmly against her stomach and detonates causing a massive fireball to erupt and send an immense wave in every direction sweeping everyone away in a wave of force and water. The blast showed to be much more powerful than anyone could anticipate. Ruby was last seen hurled away from the blast with trails of ember and smoke leaving her clothes as she came to a crashing stop along the shore, everyone else found themselves in separate parts of the lake all scattered and disoriented.

Ruby lets out a harsh cough as air returned to her lungs, her body ached all over but she painstakingly got herself back up onto her knees before she spots an enraged Deimos charge towards her like a uncontrollable freight train. She looks around for her weapon but upon spotting it she realizes it was too far away. She shifts her eyes back to her attacker and watches him launch himself into the air again, both of his arms raised high above his head roaring with every ounce of breath he had. With haste she rolls out of the way when he came down smashing into the ground with sheer force, she was running out of space and couldn't muster the strength to fight back let alone stand up. Deimos, now acting like some animal, shoots a hateful glare at the huntress before he charges again but his sprint was cut when a rocket propelled shell lands sending out a powerful explosion next to him blasting him aside and save Ruby. She only had a few seconds to trace the shot back to Fred who hefted the rocket launcher over his shoulder.

She glances back at Deimos, currently trying to get back up but his armor was scorched and heavily damaged beyond recognition but then something else caught her eye, something she knew was already coming due to the raging war and Deimos himself. A Grimm beowolf.

The Grimm steadily approached the downed SPARTAN like a predator preparing to feast on its prey, Deimos looks up to see the creature approach him and notices several other Grimm not too far behind. The rage and anger was irresistible to the wolves, they ignored Ruby to the extent of merely walking pass her because Deimos was the primary source of negative feelings at this point, he was their prey. However the rogue steadily stood to his feet, his left arm was broken and injured from the rocket blast, and he stares right into the alpha's glowing red eyes letting his rage boil over inside.

Without warning Ruby feels a pair of armored arms scoop her up and quickly carry her away, she looks up to see Kelly retreat in haste, a second glance reveals she had also managed to secure her scythe before retrieving her and now she hurries back to the others.

Upon returning to the group, Yang quickly rushes to her sister "Ruby! You okay right!?"

"I'm a little roughed up Yang" she coughs lightly "But I'm alright . . ."

She looks around and notices two people were missing "Where did Neo and that other woman go?"

Fred approaches young Rose and performs a quick examination over her body for any signs of injuries or internal damage; he answers "They bugged out right after that explosion, no telling where they went."

"They're not going to be causing us anymore trouble" Chief states as he watches the events occur on the beach.

Like him, the other SPARTANs as well as RWBY and JNPR watched from afar but they knew things were about to change for better or worse. Grimm creatures continue to crawl out of the surrounding woods and congregate around the rogue who continued to stand his ground despite the overwhelming odds surrounding him.

Blake was the first to notice something "Wait something's happening . . . it's Deimos . . ."

The group shifts their sights onto Deimos and something was indeed happening, the SPARTAN's body was shrouded in what looked like a black oily sheen of aura building up around the armor. This black essence continued to intensify until it began to ooze away like a fog finding its way through the horde of Grimm that continued to mass around their center of attention.

"Something's not right . . ." Ren notes "Why aren't the Grimm attacking?"

This unsettling feeling also found its way into the Chief who orders "On me Blue Team, single line…"

The soldiers formed up on their commanding officer, weapons reloaded and ready, the members of JNPR and RWBY then formed up alongside them ready to take on whatever comes their way together as a united force.

Deimos, with all of his hatred and rage, soon felt something within the alpha Grimm that stood before him, he could feel its incurable hunger and unquenchable thirst for the emotions they so desperately crave and seek, and he was giving plenty of it. The creature gives a low hiss but slowly turned into a groan, and then to Deimos' surprise… it yields.

And then like its pack leader, the others fall in line as well yielding to the man they were about to kill only moments prior.

The SPARTANs and huntsmen couldn't believe what they were seeing right before their eyes, Grimm submitting to a human, their ancient enemy. They then watch the rogue turn and face them and the creatures followed his glare to the group that stood ready, the black essence of aura has faded away but its purpose was already completed, Deimos has found his semblance.

"The Grimm…" Ruby began, her voice seemed weak as her faith in the thought of them winning the day now begins to fade away into the darkness "H-He controls them now…"

Deimos stares silently at the sixteen individuals, then in a calm and collected tone he utters a single order " **…** **Kill them.** "

The alpha stands and lets out a powerful and deafening howl into the sky, signaling the horde to turn and charge towards the soldiers and huntsmen, a collection of beowolves, ursa, creeps, and boarbatusks swarms into the lake hell-bent on ravaging their targets and wipe their existence from this existence.

Chief draws a M6H magnum from his thigh, flips off the safety, and takes aim "Focus fire!"

By command, the soldiers opened fire sending streams and bursts of ballistic fire downrange into the sea of roaring black rushing towards them. Each round found their mark but the results varied from a confirmed kill to a mere ricochet as projectiles slam into the bone-like armor of the creatures and bounce elsewhere. The hunters and huntresses offered their firepower as well sending bullets and explosive bolts down upon the horde though their weapons were performing better against the Grimm than their UNSC counterparts. But despite the tremendous barrage of fire raining down on the raging horde, the creatures continued to gain ground regardless of the losses they were sustaining.

"Kelly, call for evac" Chief requests.

She confirms with a nod and takes a step back tapping onto her helmet and make her request "Sierra-087 to _Hammer of Midas_ , requesting emergency evac at grid coordinates A5. Facing heavy hostile resistance and require immediate support."

A response from the other end comes through _"_ _Acknowledged 087, redirecting Pelicans to your AO. Standby ETA three minutes."_

"Copy that _Midas,_ we'll hold as long as we can but don't keep us waiting. 087 out."

She returns to the fight reporting "We've got about two minutes before support arrives."

Chief acknowledges "You heard her everyone, hold the line."

The Grimm continues to charge like a raging wave of water, this prompted several soldier to begin utilizing grenades to help soften up the enemy force but it did little to quell their numbers. Soon the horde began to draw unfavorably close, close enough to where Kelly and Raphael were able to utilize their close-quarters shotguns more effectively to a lethal degree. In desperation some members were forced to go into melee combat with the hunters and huntresses now showing their greater capabilities in combat which was duly noted by the SPARTANs. Ruby, in spite of her injuries, continues to fight to the best of her ability taking slashes and gunshots at the enemy whenever possible but given her current state she can't hold up like the others, instead she has to heavily rely on others to stay alive. In one instance a wolf had almost gained the upper hand when attacking her but before it could have landed a killing blow it was defeated by a single shotgun blast from Raph who insists she stayed behind the line and make sure they won't be flanked.

But in the end she could hear the faint roar of a thruster engine approaching, several engines in fact, and she was tempted to look up and find two large vessels approaching. Massive, bulky, green, somewhat resembling the shape of a bird with its wings, and bared the words _'_ _UNSC MARINES'_ , these gunships came to a slow halt hovering over the besieged fighters and only then did she noticed the high-caliber chin-mounted gun turret that quickly came to life and immediately open fire with a furious stream of bursts sending 70mm depleted uranium rounds into the horde of Grimm cutting them down like trees. While one provides cover fire from above the other lowers itself and opens its rear bay doors letting six figures to come out, each donning a standardized set of olive drab titanium armor and wielding their MA5D assault rifles.

"C'mon you grunts! Get the lead out and start providing covering fire!" one of the soldiers barks.

The men quickly rushed to join the Master Chief and lay down suppressive fire; this cued the SPARTANs and huntsmen to begin falling back and prepare to load up into the dropships.

One soldier was urging the children to step aboard first "C'mon move it! Move it! We ain't got all day to wait around!"

But Weiss stops and demands "Wait who are you guys!?"

The man replies gruffly "What does it look like Miss!? We're the marines! Now get aboard!"

Schnee wanted to protest "But-" but the marine sergeant was in no mood to wait another second, instead he grabs hold of her and toss w her inside much to her displeasure.

The sergeant then taps on his helmet and calls out "Valkyrie 2-4 we're loading up the passengers now, prep for touchdown to retrieve the rest!"

"Hey that's my name!" Nora chirps but was ignored by the marine.

 _"_ _Acknowledged, once you guys dust off we'll make touchdown to retrieve the rest."_

The marine gets off the chatter then waves to his men "Alright marines get your asses back in the bird now!"

Without question the marines ceases firing and withdraws before climbing into the troop compartment of their gunship, the floor beneath the children's feet shook as the craft shifts its power into its four wing-mounted thruster pods and lift itself back into the air well out of the reach of Grimm. As the primary dropship reaches a safe altitude and provide fire support, the second craft lowers itself and allows Blue Team to climb aboard safely with the craft dusting off only moments later. From above, Ruby could see the lake crawling with Grimm, after another moment she was able to make out Deimos still standing by the beach looking up to them and watch them depart. He had won this battle.

The pilot of the pelican reports in _"_ _Valkyrie 3-4 to Frigate Hand of Midas, we have passengers aboard all accounted for. Doubling back to primary AO to resume support runs."_

But the commanding voice rejects _"_ _Negative Valkyrie, all UNSC and allied forces are pulling out of the vicinity due to heavy presence of local indigenous wildlife. The area is marked for support bombardment momentarily. Return home."_

 _"_ _Wilco Midas, Valkyrie 3-4 2-4 changing vector to RTB. Five mikes out."_

Not long after, the huntsmen could see they were passing the abandoned village that was now teeming with Grimm. They could see nothing but a sea of black and white as the last few Atlesian and UNSC dropships vacated the area with haste, some barely made it out with their lives. Above, they could see the long awaited cruiser _Visitant_ now flanked by one of the larger frigates of the UNSC, they watched as the frigate's twin-barreled gun batteries take aim and open fire sending a steady rate of high explosive shells down onto the village and surrounding area decimating the local Grimm populace.

Ruby eventually turns away from the bombardment and looks to her teammates and friends, each had their own share of defeat and uncertainty, with an enemy that can now control the Grimm and the involvement of a vast superpower, they don't know what will come next, and this time they were afraid.

 **Please leave your thoughts and comments. Thank you.**


	27. Alliance

**RWBY: The Dark Hunter**

 **Chapter 26**

" **Alliance"**

[June 13th, 2558]

[Beacon Academy, Kingdom of Vale]

[8:26 PM]

The pelican dropships ferrying the members of RWBY, JNPR, and Blue Team drew near the Academy's air docks and slows its speed for final approach, the huntsmen were exhausted and aching from this day and couldn't wait to find their beds for the rest of the night. Professor Ozpin, his assistant Goodwitch, and General Ironwood, along with a detachment of Atlesian troops, all stood patiently watching the hulking crafts turn their hulls about before extending their landing gears and open their rear bay doors. From one dropship they could see the children exiting the vehicle, some were showing scars but it was Ruby who had taken the hardest hit when she had gotten too close to Deimos during his fit of uncontrollable rage, her clothing was torn and tattered in certain spots mainly around her abdomen where she had taken the blow and her skin was bruised and scarred much like everyone else. After the last huntress steps out, the rear doors seals shut and the dropship promptly lifts off and flies away into the evening sky back to its command ship, _FFG 143 Hand of Midas_ , that had just arrived from the battlefield.

From the other pelican, the members of Blue Team along with Sandra and Farley steps out of their vehicle as well and began to walk calmly towards the three adults that stood waiting. The troopers kept their eyes on the SPARTANs but dared not make a move towards them, not wanting to chance causing a firefight that would almost certainly break down the fragile relationship that was already standing between Remnant and the UNSC.

The children motions past the adults but Ozpin stops them with a question "Are you all alright?"

"Just… a little roughed up Professor…" Yang answers whereas no one else did.

"I see, all of you deserve some much needed rest, you may go…"

Without question the students moved on but Ruby remained, despite her condition she asks "Professor Ozpin? Is it alright if I come with you to your office? I know you probably want to talk to them…" she motions to Blue Team who now stood before them.

"Miss Rose, you're in no condition to keep standing, please go see the infirmary…" the headmaster encouraged with a gentle smile.

"I can manage Professor, besides I think you'll want to hear what we have to say…"

"Is it really that important Ruby? You're barely standing as is…"

Finally Sandra chimed in as she stepped towards young Rose "No need to worry Sir, I'll hold her hand…"

Feeling like he won't get any farther with the conversation he gives a small sigh then turns to Blue Team "Very well… would you all kindly follow me?"

[Ozpin's Office]

"Before we start" Ozpin begins as he settles down into his seat with both Ironwood and Goodwitch flanking his sides "May I ask for your names?"

The olive drabbed figure, the Master Chief, steps forward and introduces his team "This is Petty Officer, First Class Kelly, Blue-2. Lieutenant Fred and Petty Officer Linda, Blue-3 and 4. Warrant Officer Rose and Special Agent Raphael, 5 and 6."

"And you are?"

"Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, most call me the Master Chief."

"I see… So you're the legendary Master Chief I've been hearing of, we're quite fortunate to have you here to help us with this situation."

"We'll do everything we can to help Sir."

"I'm grateful to hear that, this has been the first set of good news since this whole problem began. Now, please explain to us what happened during the conflict in detail… specifically when you were fighting Deimos…"

Without another moment of thought Chief began his briefing "Upon Blue Team's arrival we engaged hostile insurgents and began making our push towards their lines at the outskirts of the forests surrounding the town. With assistance from the children, we managed to secure a portion of the enemy's lines before we were fired upon by our primary target however enemy reinforcements were inbound and we needed to hold our position so that allied support could take over. Blue-5 along with Yang Xiao Long and Pyrrha Nikos proceeded to pursue the target into the forest afterwards, we were to follow them in once the area was locked down."

Ozpin's eyes glanced to the black titanium clad figure with red trimmings, the one known as Rose, which prompted her to step forth and stood next to the Chief.

She begins "We chased Deimos into the forests away from the main AO, Yang Xiao Long and Pyrrha Nikos were accompanying me. We came into a small clearly a few klicks out from the battle where Deimos had laid a trap for us, afterwards we engaged Deimos using what we had available but he was harder to kill than expected. Blue Team and the children arrived to provide backup but two unknown individuals arrived as well to assist Deimos, with our forces divided we couldn't bring them down… that's when Deimos lost it."

"Lost it?" Ironwood queried.

"He was targeting Ruby Rose specifically, before he could land a final blow he… he just fell to the ground screaming… as if he was in pain. He was yelling at someone or something to 'get out of his head'. Ruby attempted to capture him with an armor restraint, but instead Deimos countered with some sort of attack we've never seen before and the resulting blast blew us apart. By the time we recovered, the two unknowns had bugged out and Deimos was making another attempt at Ruby but fortunately Fred and Kelly were close enough to retrieve her. Once we regrouped we noticed multiple unidentified creatures surrounding Deimos, the kids were certain they would kill him, but… that didn't happen at all."

Ozpin's eyes narrowed on Rose "What do you mean?"

Ruby Rose spoke up "They acted like Deimos was their leader, Professor Ozpin… he can control the Grimm…"

That took the adults back, Ironwood evidently had a heart skip judging by his facial reaction, Goodwitch eyes widened as she turned to Ozpin who had to let out a worrisome sigh.

But much to his disliking he asks "Is there more to the report?"

Spartan Rose continued "He ordered the Grimm to engage us immediately and we were able to hold them off until evac would arrive, once it did we extracted from the AO with the frigate _Hand of Midas_ commencing bombardment of the infested village once all friendly assets were evacuated."

The room fell quiet afterwards, Ironwood was carefully looking around glancing at each face for validity or even hints of a plan to counter the ever growing threat. Ozpin then silently sighs and stands up from his chair before walking around his desk and approach the Spartans until he was merely feet from the soldiers.

"You may not be aware of it" he begins "But the Grimm has always been humanity's greatest threat for as long as history has existed. They were always disorganized, uncoordinated, but they have always shared one goal and that is to see the end of our own existence. But now with Deimos' new semblance he is more than capable of launching an effective and devastating assault on our city, the Grimm now controlled by a single mind will come crashing through our walls and defenses and put hundreds of thousands of innocent lives in danger. Surely you all realize how much is at stake here."

The Spartans made no reply but it was clear that the headmaster has their full attention "You claim to be the best that the UNSC has to offer, that there is no other force in the entire known space that could rival you. Yet, with recent events, I'm not quite fully convinced… so far it is Deimos who has been living up to the reputation of a Spartan and he is currently a broken man who has gone rogue."

Goodwitch, Ironwood, and Ruby watched with silent stares as Ozpin called the Spartans out on their claims, he was essentially handing them their asses on a silver platter through words and not action.

Despite his intentions, Ozpin remained calm "Deimos has managed to maintain a low profile for years if not decades on Remnant without revealing even the slightest hint of his existence to us, he has killed a number of people I dare not imagine including two of your own kind, he has proven to be more than a match towards some of our elite warriors, he has launched what is certainly the most successful attack on one of the world's leading academies for training all future hunters and huntresses and left an entire kingdom in a state of panic singlehandedly, and he has finally obtained the ability to control humanity's mortal enemy presenting himself to be the gravest threat to the four kingdoms…"

He fixes his glasses and stares directly into the Chief's visor "So tell me Master Chief… what is it that you have done?"

Chief made no motion, no indication of defense or retaliation towards the headmaster's attacks, instead he spoke with a calm demeanor "We will find Deimos and we will bring him the justice he deserves."

"You say that, but I only hear empty words…"

The Master Chief then reassures him "I promise, and when I make a promise, I intend to keep it."

Ozpin studied the Spartan's body language, still and firm but with a sense of calm all around it, Chief was making a soldier's promise…

"Thank you…" Ozpin said kindly "That is all I needed to hear… tomorrow Ironwood and I have an important meeting with the Vale Council and I would appreciate it if you and your commanding officer will be there with us to help explain things. As for the rest of your team I suggest they go around and make themselves feel welcomed with the students and faculty, Teams RWBY and JNPR can help you along with that."

Chief nods in confirmation "We'll be there."

"I'm looking forward to it.."

General Ironwood then states "After the council meeting I'd like to have a formal talk with your CO, if that's possible."

The Spartan then shifts his eyes to James "I'll send word of it."

Ozpin then clasps his hands "Good… today we rest and tomorrow we'll talk politics, then the real hunt begins…"

[8:45 PM, Dorm rooms]

Weiss fell back onto her bunk bed, feeling somewhat relieved that the day has finally come to an end especially after enduring a grueling engagement with the rogue and the White Fang "Ugh… I didn't think I could've been more happy to see my bed again…"

Yang does the same acknowledging in agreement "Me too…" as she climbed into hers.

Sandra found herself leaning against a wall stating "I'll admit that today was a bit too rough for my liking… I can manage a Spartan throwing fire balls… but now… It's not getting any easier for us."

"No it isn't… Deimos is constantly getting stronger and now he has the entire Grimm horde to use…" Blake adds "How're we supposed to fight that?"

"With a bit of luck and careful planning. That's about all we got left now."

Yang sits up from her bed wondering "But we got the UNSC helping now, we got the Master Chief so that's good right?"

"The UNSC hasn't encountered an enemy like this before, sure we dealt with worse but this brings us to a whole new playing table that we're not quite familiar with. What makes it worse is that Deimos knows our tactics and strategies and has the muscle and numbers to overwhelm ours."

"So what do we do?" Weiss queried.

The door creaks open showing Ruby entering the room, bandages and medical wrap were found around her body as she quietly walked over and sat down next to Schnee, she briefly looks at everyone in the room then asks "What're we talking about?"

"The usual" Sandra replied.

"Oh…"

"Yeah, right now we're trying to come up with a way to get an edge over Deimos and his newfound armies."

"Oh… um" Ruby thought for a moment then suggested with some hesitation "Well… I think I know who we could ask that knows quite a bit about Deimos, maybe there's something he didn't tell us."

Sandra's body language shifted from relax to concerned and curiosity "Who?"

Yang intervenes "Ruby you sure?"

"Yeah I'm sure."

Sandra's voice begins to become more serious "Who are we talking about?"

Rose gets up from Weiss' bunk and begins reaching for hers, specifically under the blankets until she grabs hold of what she was looking for and produces an ORACLE-N optics package from the covers, she then sits back down with the scope.

"You sleep with a rifle scope? I know you're into weapons but isn't that a bit much?" the lieutenant questions.

"It's not just a scope… c'mon BB, we need a little help."

"BB? Is there something I'm missing?"

Then to the Spartan's surprise, a voice emanates from within the scope _"Yes, but that'll be explained in a moment…"_

Sandra became completely dumbstruck, her eyes darting between the scope and the girls then demands in a stern voice "Alright I want an explanation right now. Who is he and why all of you were hiding this from me until now."

"Sandra this is BB, he's an AI inside of Deimos' scope. He's…" Ruby tries to explain further but then she was at a loss for words "Uh…"

" _An ONI liaison tasked with observing Deimos and keeping an eye for any… undesirable behavior."_

"So you're with Section 0." She notes, but then sets her sights on the girls "Why haven't you told me anything about this?" _  
_

Sheepishly Ruby answered "We were afraid that if we told you then BB would be erased by ONI… but I guess that's not much of a big issue anymore is it?"

" _Of course not… Secrecy was thrown out the window long ago, I'm now here to help in whatever capacity I am able in."_

Sandra lets out a tiresome sigh rubbing her the front of her forehead with her fingers "Alright… we'll just have to sort this out tomorrow, we've had a long day and we need some rest…"

She takes her helmet from the desk and makes her way to the door, entering through, and closing it behind her.

[9:04 PM, White Fang Camp]

Night was settling in over the campsite, after the hard fought battle the men were getting their well-deserved rest and celebration. The camp was a little more lively than usual due to the sudden rise in morale thanks to their efforts. Cinder and Adam were quite pleased as well with the results of today's hard work. But despite the celebrations, there was one figure unaccounted for, and Fall knew where to find him. Subtly displacing herself from the crowds she makes her way to a tent in the middle of the encampment pushing aside the flaps and entering to find Deimos, sitting idly atop his crate of equipment and deep in his thoughts. In his open hand she could see the small engraved flip lighter lying within his palm.

She takes a step forward but immediately stops upon hearing a low muttering growl from an unknown source very close to her. Upon glance she finds a calm Grimm beowolf lying down looking up to her with its orange fiery eyes shortly before laying its head back down and go back to resting.

She notes "Your power has grown much faster than I had anticipated… I'm impressed."

" **As am I… a day does not go by without me furthering my own strength."**

"Yes, the ability to control the Grimm is fascinating and a very rare trait indeed. I can't say I've heard stories of people capable of such…"

She steps next to him and kneels placing her hands on his shoulder and forearm, she then looks down at the lighter and studies the engravings for a moment before asking "It belonged to someone important hasn't it?"

Deimos made no motion, his eyes firmly locked on the object, **"… Very important…"** before he wraps his fingers around the lighter in a fist.

She motions him to stand, to which he obliges, and stands in front of him "You've proven yourself to be very instrumental in our goal… we couldn't have done the things you have… and for that we a very grateful…"

Her hands now found themselves on his shoulders as she moves herself closer to him "So much so that we could form a more… permanent partnership. One beyond the association with the White Fang and our quarrels with the world."

This remark subtly aroused suspicion within the Spartan **"Taurus and his men have proven themselves.. what do you really see them as?"**

"Toy soldiers and an asset that will outlive his usefulness, but you are something much more. With your semblance you've become an unstoppable force and a valuable ally to me."

Deimos stayed silent allowing her to go on as she lifts the hand that held his lighter within "You are powerful that is certain, but there are heights that exceeds far beyond what you can do now… But it would seem that your past… is the only thing that is stopping you…"

The rogue rebukes **"She is what makes me strong…"**

"No…" she retorts sharply "She is what makes you weak and broken, you hold onto her as you fight your foes with such reckless abandon, such value is not to be wasted."

She moves her hands to his helmet, caressing the alloy plating within her fingers, "She is holding you back, you need to let her go…"

She moves to remove his helmet but she was quickly stopped once she felt a firm grip around her right wrist, finding it engulfed tightly in his hand, she tries to withdraw but his grasp wouldn't budge an inch.

" **No…"** he responded calmly but with a sense of authority as well, this sparked some disturbance from the beowolf who looks up with a low grumbling hiss.

Cinder, now trapped, looks to him and demands with a firm tone of her own "What're you doing?"

" **How long will it be before you find me nothing more than wasted breath? Will you toss me aside like you will to Taurus? We're nothing more than pawns to you… no… something isn't right…"**

Fall attempts to free herself but then the Spartan seizes her other wrist and now looks her dead in the eyes through his helmet **"What do you really have to gain from all this? Seeing Vale burn isn't just some lust for violence…. You're after something…"**

"You don't know what you're talking about" she defends herself.

He takes a moment to ponder on her response the states **"…. I see… you seem to have so much faith in me but yet you restrain yourself from telling me anything worthy of trust…"**

The wolf stands up on all fours and carefully moves itself into position behind Cinder.

" **I suppose it's clear that you already have plans to kill me… to make sure I don't become a threat to you or your plans…"**

She could feel the heat building up in his hands meanwhile the air around her began to chill to freezing levels.

"Deimos… don't do something you'll regret" she warned with a now confident tone that she normally exhibits.

His faceless glare now locked on hers **"… We're done."**

As cued the wolf releases a horrendous snarl and pounces towards its victim, however she with the aid of her powers augmenting her strength spins Deimos around throwing the soldier into the wolf giving out a pained howl.

She opens her right palm aiming it down on Deimos, but he aims his own hand towards her, and the two briefly developed a small energized ball of aura before firing them off on one another at point-blank range. The two projectiles collided with another and fused to create an immense fiery blast that engulfed the tent and everything within a twenty foot radius. The resounding blast sent the entire encampment into frenzied panic and confusion with men rushing to extinguish the flames.

Amongst the commotion another ball of fire shoots out from the inferno and not too soon after Fall's body was thrown out of the fire with Deimos pacing after her with no concern for anything else around him. Cinder pushes her hands down against the ground, pushing herself back up in a quick cartwheel, and readies herself.

The Spartan promptly breaks his steady pace into a full offensive charge shortly before engulfing his right hand in searing flames, cocking his arm back, and launch it towards Cinder. She deflects the blow with her left arm but it didn't stop him from beginning a barrage of flaming fists that came streaming towards her body. She deflects further strikes in a similar manner with steady speed and grace thus forced her attacker to switch to a new approach, starting with yet another right hook before a left hard-hitting spin-kick followed up by repeated high-kicks with each slamming into her right arm with breaking force. Despite countering the attacks Fall was now further pressed back as Deimos launches yet another strike from her left leading with a full-forced knee into her side then another high kick sent crashing against her forearm but finally complimented with a one-two punch, the first landing against her battered arm sending it aside with the second connecting squarely with her shoulder.

While he appeared focused on offense she attempted to retaliate with a speedy right hook which found its mark against the lower half of his helmet causing his head to coil back but only for the briefest moment to which he responded a fast and low blow to her abdomen forcing her to kneel before him as he cups his hands together and brought it over his head. Fall spots the incoming attack and materializes an energy barrier in front of her just moments before the hammer came down with staggering force. Deimos became an uncontrollable brute.

Several repeated strikes later and with one final right-handed blow the barrier shatters leaving Cinder exposed, Deimos welcomes the opportunity with a left open hand aimed down on his opponent as a small ball energizes itself into existence right in front of her face. Deimos became ready to end the fight but was thwarted when he felt a powerful force slam into his side and send him sprawling through the air crashing into a nearby tent.

Cinder looks up to find her savior to be Mercury who extends his hand down to help her up "Poked the bear a little too much don't you think?"

Cinder takes his hand and hoists herself up to meet Emerald coming to her, then afterwards the tent Deimos had crashed into was set ablaze from inside as he himself walks out to meet his former associates.

"Is he going through a mood swing or is this for real?" Sustrai questioned with laid back voice.

Several White Fang soldiers recognized Deimos as a serious threat and trained their weapons on him but he draws upon his magnum and effortlessly drops each individual before they could've pulled the trigger. He then shifts his aim on the trio and opened fire sending rounds downrange but his shots were ultimately dodged or blocked prompting Mercury and Emerald to move in and engage the Spartan directly.

Black reaches his target first and leaps into the air opening up with a swinging sidekick directed towards Deimos' face but the soldier ducks below the leg finding Sustrai right behind her partner and sends a right fist her way but she skips out of the way and cleaves her sickles into his side cutting into his shields. The Spartan only grimaces in pain but swiftly responds with a wide right-handed swing of his arm to which Emerald only ducks to avoid. By this point Mercury has already positioned himself for another strike and intends to go for a low blow directly for his target's ankles. He moves in and with a quick burst from his boots he goes into a hard power slide before shooting out his right leg to catch Deimos off-balance, this however did not come to reality as the rogue notices him and fires a ball of fire into the ground beneath Black. However Mercury was able to deviate from his path and save himself as the ground which he was once upon melted into nothing but charred dirt and glass. With a new target in sight, Deimos lunges forward towards Black and sends forth a volley of attacks forcing Mercury to fall back on defense, deflecting blow after blow with his legs and occasionally his arms whenever a strike came too close for comfort. This gave Emerald a moment to flank the Spartan from range and open up with her dual revolvers that pinked against the soldier's energy shields but withered them away to the point they finally failed and now only Deimos' aura was protecting him.

This forced him to draw his magnum and return fire sending heavy rounds back at Sustrai who dives for cover all the while still laying down fire on him. Mercury took this moment to throw a hard roundhouse kick into his opponent's back causing him to stagger and quickly place his attention back on Black who then begun to leap into the air to attempt a dropkick, but despite this Deimos was quick enough to grasp onto one of Mercury's ankles and slam his body into the ground like a hammer leaving him in a daze. Then in an effort to finally disable him Deimos proceeds to raise his left leg and with his might he sends his foot down onto one of Mercury's lower legs smashing every bit of it with brute force, enough send Black into a state of agony as he screams out in utter pain.

Seeing her partner in serious trouble, Emerald moves in switching her revolvers into sickles and attempts to engage Deimos at close range. However this proved fruitless when she swung high prompting the Spartan to duck beneath the blades and immediately shoot up seizing her neck within his hands holding her up above ground. She struggles to free herself but he resisted her efforts before planting his free hand against her abdomen and develop a ball that swiftly blasted Sustrai's body from him sending her crashing into the ground several meters away.

His motion sensor catches movement from behind prompting him to turn around to find Cinder standing ready, not wanting to grant her the chance to strike he develops a singular ball of intensifying energy between the two palms of his hands and sends it hurtling in her direction. She readies herself to take the hit but to both Deimos and her surprise, an unseen and swift force cuts through the sphere like a hot blade through a watermelon.

The rogue took a moment for a second look and finds Adam Taurus blocking his way to Fall, his sword sheathed away for the next strike.

"I'm going to enjoy this more than I should…" the White Fang leader remarked as he stares down the Spartan.

Deimos then with a single thought materializes a single tomahawk out of hot shards of glass, taking notes from his multitude of training sessions with Cinder, and readies himself.

Adam's grin turned to disdain when he looks over his shoulder and asks "Is there anything you haven't taught him?" but he received no response from Fall, instead he starts to hear rapid heavy steps charging him.

He faces forward just in time to find Deimos already in striking distance with his axe in full swing aiming for his sides, Taurus instinctively skips back letting the tomahawk to swing past by harmlessly. In retaliation Adam unlocks his sword from its sheath and with a single swift motion he brings the blood red blade from its holdings and takes a speedy slash at his opponent who reacted without thought bringing up his own weapon to block the attack. The two clashed with weapons scraping against each other in a subtle display of power, sizing each other up, before the duelists backed away and waited for someone to make the first move.

Emerald motions to Cinder "He's going to need our help."

But Fall protests "No.. this is all too interesting to stop. Go help evacuate the camp."

Adam waited patiently with his blade stowed away but his hand firmly gripped around the handle, Deimos stood silently anticipating and calculating a proper course of action.

"C'mon freak… I don't have all day" Taurus taunted.

Deimos obliged, he immediately breaks into a dead sprint towards his target. Adam braces himself by readying his sword for his next strike watching the rogue come at him like an enraged bull. The Spartan rapidly closes the distance until comes within meters of his target where he then lashes out with his axe in a full upward motion attempting to gut Adam from below. However Taurus anticipated this possibility, drawing his blade in a swift fashion and countering the axe before it could have caused damage. Without thought, Deimos reaches out with an open palm and fully grasps Adam's face before throwing his entire body aside.

Taurus corrected his fall and lands firmly back on his feet several meters away but Deimos gave Adam no chance to ready himself for the next assault. The rogue swings low with the intent of taking his opponent's legs in a single cut of his axe, but Adam leaps over the Spartan and lunges his sword at Deimos' exposed back. The tip of his blade pierces through what remained of the soldier's energy shielding and clashed against his aura, Deimos only grunted in pain but he comes back around with his magnum shown in his left hand now trained on Adam. Taurus skips back just as his attacker begins to squeeze round after round out of his sidearm but Adam was more than capable of stopping each round with his weapon. Deimos begins marching towards his adversary, briefly reloading his weapon before firing again forcing Adam to continue defending himself, until he comes within range to swing his axe towards Taurus' sides. However Adam, not wanting to let Deimos have the initiative, ducks and rolls beneath the axe until he came up behind the Spartan and attempts to slash at his back. Deimos instinctively reacts, immediately coming around and blocking the sword before it could have done damage and brings his magnum up to Taurus' head. Adam had anticipated this little move and before Deimos could've pulled the trigger and kill him, he brings his scabbard rifle, Blush, right up to his opponent's chest and fire multiple consecutive rounds with each having the stopping power to knock the Spartan back a few steps and lower his defensive aura to a dangerous low.

Seeing his enemy now weak and near vulnerable, Taurus holsters his rifle and sheathes his blade before darting towards his target with haste. Deimos soon recovers from the shots and catches Adam swiftly closing in on him, realizing close quarters combat was a failing strategy and his conventional magnum insufficient, he tosses his axe aside letting it disintegrate in mid-air and clasps his hands together mustering his energy to form two energized spheres of searing heat. Once complete he hurls the scorching projectiles towards Adam who cuts through the first and then slides beneath the second now meters away from finishing this fight.

Coming down last ditch efforts, Deimos ignites his own hands and charges leading with a fast and devastating right hook. But Adam circumvents the soldier and attacks from behind, however this was quickly countered once Deimos turns on his heels and deflect the blade with his right forearm, damaging his own aura and retaliate with a heavy jab from his left fist connecting firmly into Adam's gut knocking the Faunus back several steps and leaving him almost winded. Deimos pushes his attack, prompting Adam to stow his blade and wait, and once he came within striking distance Taurus aims and fires the hilt of his blade out the barrel of his rifle sending the chokutō slamming against the Spartan's helmet. Taurus catches his weapon and brings down a swift slash across Deimos' chest cutting the last remnants of his aura away and leaving only his armor as a means of defense.

Deimos backs away, his anger boiling up inside, while Adam deposits his weapon back into its sheath and yells "C'mon! I was hoping for a better fight than this!"

The Spartan made no motion allowing Taurus to continue "You want to know what I despise about you the most? You. Have no loyalty! You turned your back against your former allies and now after giving you a chance with us you decide to turn against us and for what!?"

" **I refuse to being used like a tool anymore… this time I serve no one but myself.** " His tone lowers to something near inhuman _"_ _ **And I'll be damned if I let any one of you try and stop me**_ _"_

"Are you being serious right now? You know what… it doesn't matter now because I am going to kill you right here and now."

A thick black essence begins to develop around Deimos " **You'll die trying…** "

Taurus examines the black aura that surrounds the Spartan and takes a step back with caution, Deimos then holds out his hand " **What's the matter? Did you suddenly lose all that bravado?** "

Adam knew this was all wrong, he swore he had cut away the energy shielding and aura so what was this blackness coming from? He could feel the raw energy radiate from the soldier and it was almost disturbing for him.

A white fang soldier runs up to Adam informing him "Sir, outer perimeter patrols are reporting multiple Grimm moving on this position, we can't stay here much longer…"

"Have the men grab what they can carry and move out, tell the patrols they'll need to guide everyone out and to the emergency rendezvous point."

"Cinder and her people are already getting everyone evacuated, you're one of the last people here."

Adam looked around him, the camp was already set ablaze and burned to the ground leaving hardly anything that was salvageable. His gaze then shifts back to Deimos who stood there silently among the flames and bodies of the white fang, patiently waiting for whatever Taurus may do next, there was nothing else he could do…

Adam cursed himself under his breath and muttered "Alright… there's nothing left for us here…" he then turns about and evacuates the destroyed camp with the remainder of his forces.

One by one the soldiers disappears into the surrounding forests but coming from it were the creatures of Grimm, allured by Deimos' radiant anger, with an alpha beowolf acting as leader as it came and yield to its new master. Deimos looked about the monsters that surround him, all look at him with an unquenchable thirst for blood, carnage, and the very destruction of their enemies.

Eventually a male voice calls out from a distance "Hello!? What's going on!?"

The Spartan looked towards where the calls for help originated and begins walking towards it with several wolves walking alongside him. He soon comes across his crate of equipment amongst the smoldering remains of his personal tent, he wasn't surprised that it had survived the initial explosion that ignited the following fight. He grabs one of the handles and starts dragging it along until he reached the voice's point of origin.

"Hello!?" the voice rang out.

The voice was coming from a partially scorched tent that was still burning, Deimos walks through the flaps and finds a person he hasn't seen for a while " **Hmm.. I almost forgot about you.** "

The man he was speaking to was Spartan Joel, leader of Fireteam Raptor, still restrained by the armor lock restraint still planted on his chest and tied to a metal chair with metal chains.

Joel looked up and groaned "Oh shit…"

Deimos' first thought was just to simply kill him, seeing no immediate use for him, but then something came across his mind.

He then spoke " **You can relax, for once I don't plan on killing you just yet. In fact I have a message for you to deliver back to your friends at Beacon Academy.** "

He leans in and removes the restraint allowing Joel to break free from the chains and stand to moving his arms and legs feeling his muscles ache from a week of immobility, distastefully he asks "What is it?"

" **Tell them that I look forward to seeing them again at Beacon real soon. And to a young Ruby Rose, I have some news she might find surprising.** "

Deimos haves an approaching ursa pick up his crate and as the Grimm and their leader begins to leave Joel stops them "What makes you think I'm just going to let you walk away right now?"

Deimos turns to face Joel stating " **Because you and I both know I will kill you if you try. You can stay here and wait for Atlesian and UNSC forces to arrive or you can head eleven klicks south where you'll find the academy, your choice.** "

Joel halfheartedly stands down, allowing Deimos and his army to vacate the remains of the White Fang camp, leaving him alone with a message he now has to take back to his allies.

 **Please leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.**


End file.
